Abstract: Hypersonic vehicles subjected to strong aerodynamic forces and serious aerodynamic heating require more stringent design for an infrared window. In this paper, a finite element analysis is used to present the distributions of thermal and stress fields in the infrared window for hypersonic vehicles based on flowfield studies. A theoretical guidance is provided to evaluate the influence of aerodynamic heating and forces on infrared window materials. The aerodynamic heat flux from Mach 3 to Mach 6 flight at an altitude of 15 km in a standard atmosphere is obtained through flowfield analysis. The thermal and stress responses are then investigated under constant heat transfer coefficient boundary conditions for different Mach numbers. The numerical results show that the maximum stress is higher than the material strength at Mach 6, which means a failure of the material may occur. The maximum stress and temperatures are lower than the material strength and melting point under other conditions, so the material is safe.

Key words: Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) ZnS, Infrared window material, Thermal and stress responses, Hypersonic vehicles

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