PSI - Issue 53

Stefania Franchitti et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 53 (2024) 397–406 Author name / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2019) 000 – 000

404

8

Tests have been executed without any remarkable anomaly and no structural failures or sub-assy anomalies have been detected. The data acquired are mostly consistent, repeatable, and have a good correlation with numerical prediction. The Ti6Al4V supports worked properly as foreseen from the design. 3.6. Thermomechanical Test As described within the building block approach, the verification at component level is mandatory for closing the loop and ensures the effectiveness of a specific technology. For this purpose, a dedicated thermomechanical test campaign has been performed on the additive manufactured Ti6Al4V attachment aimed to test its integrity under thermo-structural environment foreseen during the re-entry flight and so verify its integrity by tests. The component tested is the flap support that interfaced with the vehicle cold structure by means of pin and bolted connections while is joined with the CMC flap by means a bearing (Fig. 7).

Fig. 7. 3D Model of the Body Flap and derived prototype on the right.

The tests have been performed with the MTS-810 test machine. The set-up is arranged to have the test article connected to one of the clamps of the machine through a metallic fixture, while a CMC fixture equivalent to the CMC flap is connected to the other clamp. The BF support has been loaded and heated at the same time by means a dedicated furnace. The test rig has been conceived in order to apply load also while the test article is heated. The full test rig designed and built is shown in Fig. 8.

b

a

Fig. 8. Full test rig designed (a) and built (b).