Topology Optimization Design and Thermal Performance Analysis of Actively Cooled Panels

Actively cooled panels, as critical components of hypersonic vehicles, must simultaneously fulfill multifunctional demands, including thermal protection, insulation, and structural load-bearing capabilities. However, their design complexity arises from the need to account for strongly coupled multiphysics interactions, such as thermal stress, convective heat transfer, and internal fluid flow dynamics. To address this challenge, this study proposes a lattice-structure-based topology optimization framework, integrating the Volume of Fluid (VOF) multiphase model and Lee phase-change theory to enhance the thermal management performance of actively cooled panels. A parametric modeling approach was employed to generate an optimized three-dimensional design, followed by high-fidelity numerical simulations using ANSYS FLUENT. The results demonstrate that the optimized multilayer lattice structure achieves remarkable improvements, reducing the surface average temperature by 83.1% and the peak temperature by 91.8% compared to the baseline design. This work establishes a novel theoretical framework and provides a viable technical pathway for the development of lightweight thermal protection systems (TPS) under extreme aerothermal loads.