Mitigating hypersonic heat barrier via direct cooling enhanced by leidenfrost inhibition
Abstract Heat barrier, the unrestricted increase in airplane or rocket speeds caused by aerodynamic heating, which—without adequate provisions for cooling the exposed surfaces—can lead to the loss of a hypersonic vehicle’s reusability, maneuverability, and cost-effectiveness. To date, indirect therm...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62120-2 |
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| author | Ji-Xiang Wang Mingliang Zhong Jia-Xin Li Shaolong Wang Jiang Bian Yufeng Mao Hongmei Wang |
| author_facet | Ji-Xiang Wang Mingliang Zhong Jia-Xin Li Shaolong Wang Jiang Bian Yufeng Mao Hongmei Wang |
| author_sort | Ji-Xiang Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Heat barrier, the unrestricted increase in airplane or rocket speeds caused by aerodynamic heating, which—without adequate provisions for cooling the exposed surfaces—can lead to the loss of a hypersonic vehicle’s reusability, maneuverability, and cost-effectiveness. To date, indirect thermal protection methods, such as regenerative cooling, film cooling, and transpiration cooling, have proven to be complex and inefficient. Here, we propose a direct liquid cooling system to mitigate the heat barrier, utilizing a blunt-sharp structured thermal armor (STA)—a recently proposed material [36] to elevate the Leidenfrost point. The fiber-metal nano-/micro-STA withstands rigorous simulated hypersonic aerodynamic heating using butane and acetylene flames, ensuring effective temperature management in scenarios where flame temperatures reach up to 3000 °C—far exceeding the melting point of the STA substrate. Systematic cycling and durability tests further confirm the STA’s exceptional tolerance and robustness under extreme conditions. This work offers an efficient thermal protection method for hypersonic vehicles. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-954db326ff514e87a8660a2c8ddd05fe |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-954db326ff514e87a8660a2c8ddd05fe2025-08-20T03:05:14ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-07-0116111210.1038/s41467-025-62120-2Mitigating hypersonic heat barrier via direct cooling enhanced by leidenfrost inhibitionJi-Xiang Wang0Mingliang Zhong1Jia-Xin Li2Shaolong Wang3Jiang Bian4Yufeng Mao5Hongmei Wang6Institute of Optics and Electronics, Chinese Academy of SciencesInstitute of Optics and Electronics, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing Institute of Astronautics System EngineeringCollege of Electrical, Energy and Power Engineering, Yangzhou UniversityInstitute of Optics and Electronics, Chinese Academy of SciencesInstitute of Optics and Electronics, Chinese Academy of SciencesShanghai Golden Deep Technology CorporationAbstract Heat barrier, the unrestricted increase in airplane or rocket speeds caused by aerodynamic heating, which—without adequate provisions for cooling the exposed surfaces—can lead to the loss of a hypersonic vehicle’s reusability, maneuverability, and cost-effectiveness. To date, indirect thermal protection methods, such as regenerative cooling, film cooling, and transpiration cooling, have proven to be complex and inefficient. Here, we propose a direct liquid cooling system to mitigate the heat barrier, utilizing a blunt-sharp structured thermal armor (STA)—a recently proposed material [36] to elevate the Leidenfrost point. The fiber-metal nano-/micro-STA withstands rigorous simulated hypersonic aerodynamic heating using butane and acetylene flames, ensuring effective temperature management in scenarios where flame temperatures reach up to 3000 °C—far exceeding the melting point of the STA substrate. Systematic cycling and durability tests further confirm the STA’s exceptional tolerance and robustness under extreme conditions. This work offers an efficient thermal protection method for hypersonic vehicles.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62120-2 |
| spellingShingle | Ji-Xiang Wang Mingliang Zhong Jia-Xin Li Shaolong Wang Jiang Bian Yufeng Mao Hongmei Wang Mitigating hypersonic heat barrier via direct cooling enhanced by leidenfrost inhibition Nature Communications |
| title | Mitigating hypersonic heat barrier via direct cooling enhanced by leidenfrost inhibition |
| title_full | Mitigating hypersonic heat barrier via direct cooling enhanced by leidenfrost inhibition |
| title_fullStr | Mitigating hypersonic heat barrier via direct cooling enhanced by leidenfrost inhibition |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mitigating hypersonic heat barrier via direct cooling enhanced by leidenfrost inhibition |
| title_short | Mitigating hypersonic heat barrier via direct cooling enhanced by leidenfrost inhibition |
| title_sort | mitigating hypersonic heat barrier via direct cooling enhanced by leidenfrost inhibition |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62120-2 |
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