Experimental investigation and numerical simulation of heat-transfer properties of metallic honeycomb core structure up to 900 °C

The metallic honeycomb core structure has great value in engineering applications in the areas of aeronautics and astronautics because of its lightweight structure, heat insulation performance and strong resistance to deformation. Through the self-developed aerodynamic heating experiment simulation system, the heat transfer characteristics of a metallic honeycomb core panel were tested from 200 °C to 900 °C. The heat insulation effects at various temperatures were also obtained experimentally. A three-dimensional (3-D) finite element model was used to numerically compute the heat-transfer properties of the metallic honeycomb core panel, and all of the internal radiation of the honeycomb core panel, the heat conduction of the metal structure, and the heat transfer of the air within the honeycomb core cavities were considered in the numerical simulation. Overall, the experimental results agreed well with the numerical simulations. The equivalent thermal conductivity of the metallic honeycomb core panel varied from 0.447 W/(m °C) to 1.52 W/(m °C) when the front surface temperature increased from 200 °C to 900 °C. The findings in this study provide an important foundation for the safety design of high-speed aircraft.