Abstract
This is a report on the activities carried out at the CESA-1 Facility of the Plataforma Solar de Almeria within the framework of the HERMES Wing Leading Edge (W.L.E.) tests. It includes a description of the solar furnace, test procedure, instrumentation and test results, proving the capabilities of this facility in the field of high temperature material testing. It is not intended to compare the thermomechanical behavior of the materials tested. These tests to determine the thermomechanical behavior of two W.L.E.s (CC and CSiC) under simulated thermomechanical reentry conditions of the space vehicle HERMES, can be summarized as the performance of 1550° and 1730°C thermal cycles maintaining stationary conditions during 20 minutes. During this time a certain vertical temperature profile had to be reached on the W.L.E. and a set of mechanical tests (tension and compression) were carried out. Results demonstrate the flexibility of CESA-1 heliostat field control in tests of this nature. All heating and cooling rates, stationary conditions and temperature profile constraints imposed by the European Space Agency (E.S.A.) were satisfied successfully. The safety of the material was guaranteed and, finally, taking into account that we were using 55% of the total power of the heliostat field, material testing at even higher temperatures would seem to be possible.