Trista Ma: Film-cooled composites for reusable high-temperature structures

Using a constant heat flux test rig, the panel's cooling performance is measured and compared against no coolant benchmark. Separately, the standard mechanical tests check how much the perforations weaken the material.

The experimental finding has showed the cooling performance barely depends on hole size, but the composite develops small, localized hot spots that a simple panel-wide average hides, which happens on a real structure, where the failure occurs. The work combines infrared thermal camera and thermocouples (temperature)measurement, fluid behaviour of the cooling film, and structural testing to determine not just whether this cooling method works, but whether it is worth building into a real aircraft/spaceship skin.