Film-Cooled Leading Edge for NASP

HYPER-X Leading Edge Test Models

In 1989 MC² employees completed a subcontract to LMSC to develop a prototype leading edge for the NASP Option 6 program. This leading edge represented the first generation of MC²'s leading edges. In this project, we teamed with Allison Gas Turbines to fabricate three prototype copies of a film-cooled leading edge. The leading edges were approximately 3" x 8" in planform area, and were constructed of Inconel 606. The leading edge radius was 0.125", and the wedge half angle was 5 degrees.

The leading edge is transpiration-cooled in the stagnation region, and convectively cooled along the sidewalls. One of the leading edges is shown below.

A prototype leading edge was tested in the 60 MW arc test facility at NASA/Ames. The test, shown below, used paint stripes on the surface of the prototype to monitor the surface temperature. The prototype survived 12 tests at a stagnation point heat flux of 3420 BTU/ft²-sec (3900 W/cm²) at steadily decreasing helium flow rates. The maximum temperature experienced during any of the tests was 800^oF.