Mechanical Performance Analysis of Multilayer Insulation (MLI) Blankets at the Seam Area

Multi-layered insulation (MLI) blankets are widelyused to insulate satellites and fuel tanks. One of themost important structural aspects of these blankets isconsidered at the joints level which is called “seams”and can generate stress concentration zones.Therefore, investigating the effects of seams featureson mechanical performance of MLI structures is ofgreat importance. However, few research works havebeen conducted to investigate tensile strength of MLIat the seam and are limited to double-layered ones.The aim of this research is to investigate the effect ofnumber of layers (۲ and ۴), type of seam (SS and LS)and seam direction (wale or course) on the tensilestrength of MLI at the seam. The results showed thatwith increase of the number of layers, the strength ofthe seam increased. In ۲-layerd samples, seam typeand seam direction had no meaningful effect ontensile strength of the seam. With increasing thenumber of layers from ۲ to ۴ layers, the effects ofthese parameters on the tensile strength of the MLIstructure at the seam became more prominent.