Rannveig Marie Færgestad , Lorenzo Olivieri , Cinzia Giacomuzzo , Stefano Lopresti , Giovanni Pitacco , Alessandro Francesconi , Tiziana Cardone , Kevin Anthony Ford , Jens Kristian Holmen , Odd Sture Hopperstad , Tore Børvik
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Aluminium Whipple shields are commonly used to protect spacecraft against hypervelocity impacts (HVIs) from orbital debris and micrometeoroids. Since numerical models nowadays are vital in the design process of protective shields, experimental studies of HVI are important to ensure that the numerical methods are robust and capable of accurately describing a range of impact conditions and material responses. The shatter regime is the transition velocity range between ballistic impact and hypervelocity impact, typically defined from 3 to 7 km/s. In this region, the debris cloud generated by the impact transitions from a few large, solid fragments at the lower end of the velocity range, to a high number of smaller fragments and partial melting of the projectile at the higher velocities. In this study, an experimental campaign of 22 normal impacts of spherical AA1100 projectiles on AA6061-T6 Whipple shields is performed, where the impact velocity and bumper thickness are systematically varied to study the change in debris cloud characteristics and shield damage. Impact velocities from 2.6 to 5.0 km/s are investigated, combined with bumper thicknesses of 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 mm. Analysis of the experimental results is conducted using high-speed camera footage of the debris clouds and post-impact analysis of bumpers and rear walls. A numerical model is then established using the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method in the IMPETUS Solver, and the numerical results are compared to the experimental data. The simulations are able to capture the main trends found in the experimental study, and show a similar level of damage as the experiments when varying the impact velocity and bumper thickness. The simulations have somewhat smaller fragments generated in the debris cloud than in the experiments, leading to slightly less damage inflicted on the rear wall.
期刊介绍:
The International Journal of Impact Engineering, established in 1983 publishes original research findings related to the response of structures, components and materials subjected to impact, blast and high-rate loading. Areas relevant to the journal encompass the following general topics and those associated with them:
-Behaviour and failure of structures and materials under impact and blast loading
-Systems for protection and absorption of impact and blast loading
-Terminal ballistics
-Dynamic behaviour and failure of materials including plasticity and fracture
-Stress waves
-Structural crashworthiness
-High-rate mechanical and forming processes
-Impact, blast and high-rate loading/measurement techniques and their applications