Response of parabolic laser thrusters under impulsive thermomechanical loading

The experiment, mechanism analysis and numerical simulation were conducted to systemically explore impulsive thermomechanical response of parabolic laser thrusters for air-breathing mode laser propulsion. Based on analysis on the four thermal loads of incident, radiation, transmission and convection consisting in laser propulsion, the corresponding thermal mechanical coupling and dynamic computational method was established. The temperature rises of thrusters loaded by multi-pulses agree well with the experimental results. The computational results indicate that the incident absorption and high-temperature radiation are the prime reasons for the temperature rise of the parabolic laser thrusters. Researches show that the thrusters will go through the tensile failure before their melting, which open out the mechanism and the severity of the thermal-mechanical shock damage.