Thermal and Mechanical Behavior of Cryogenic Propellant Tank Concepts for Advanced Launch Vehicles

An important step in developing a cost-effective, fully-reusable, launch vehicle is the development of durable, lightweight, insulated, cryogenic propellant tanks. Current cryogenic tanks are expendable, and much of the technology that exist is not usable on future vehicles. As part of the Reusable Launch Vehicle/ X-33 Program, an experimental apparatus for evaluating the effects of both thermal and mechanical loading on cryogenic-tank concepts was developed at the NASA Langley Research Center. Studies to determine the behavior of various liquid-oxygen- and liquid-hydrogen-tank concepts under simulated mission conditions were performed as part of this research and are reported. Selected analytical studies of these tank concepts have also been performed and are reported as well. Comparisons are made between various concepts, and future research is proposed.