A previous study by the authors has proposed a foldable heat shield that deploys by harnessing the re-entry kinetic energy, namely DEployable, Self-regulating, CENTrifugally-stiffened decelerator (DESCENT). The design benefits from being self-regulating and lightweight, having low requirement on thermal protection, and allowing downrange manoeuvre based on conventional attitude control devices. The present study demonstrates that the system mass can be scaled across 6 orders of magnitude using a set of relatively simple design rules, showing the potential to realise miniaturised entry probes that are simple and robust, with a possible mass-reduction of >25% to an 8 m diameter inflatable heat shield. A scaled-down test model with a stitched fabric aeroshell and on-board sensors is drop-tested at low altitude, showing satisfactory agreement with simulation, and no sign of instabilities, paving the way for future higher fidelity tests. The similarity between the low speed drop-test result and Newtonian hypersonic simulation suggests that the critical behaviour of DESCENT is dominated by its geometrical characteristics.

作者先前的研究提出了一种可折叠的隔热罩，该隔热罩可利用再进入动能展开，即可展开，自调节，离心加力减速器（DESCENT）。该设计得益于自我调节和轻巧，对热保护的要求低以及允许基于常规姿态控制设备进行降档操作。本研究表明，使用一组相对简单的设计规则可以将系统质量扩展到6个数量级，显示出实现简单而坚固的小型入口探头的潜力，并可能将质量降低25％以上。直径为8 m的充气式隔热罩。带有缝制的织物机身和车载传感器的按比例缩小的测试模型在低空进行了跌落测试，与仿真显示出令人满意的一致性，并且没有任何不稳定迹象，这为以后的更高保真度测试铺平了道路。低速跌落测试结果与牛顿高超声速模拟之间的相似性表明，DESCENT的临界行为受其几何特性支配。