Study of Protection from Hyper-velocity Impact of Debris to Space Structure

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The international space station, which will be launched in the late 1990's, is exposed to the risk from hypervelocity impact of debris and micrometeorites. Completion of the protection system from debris impact is an urgent problem. It is well known that a Whipple-type bumper or a multi-wall one can break up an impacting projectile and spread the debris downrange. The hypervelocity impact simulation of microdebris on a shielding bumper of a space craft was conducted by using a magneto-plasma accelerator. Glass beads of several hundreds micrometers in diameter were chosen as such microprojecties. Some kinds of double-layered target plates consisting of distinct materials were chosen as the outer wall of a double-walled bumper. The impact at a hypervelocity higher than 3 km/s induced the formation of craters or perforations on target plates. The morphology of the perforations and the dispersion of the secondarily-produced debris were examined with respect to the dependence on the target-plate structure. The perforation morphology and the debris dispersion obviously depended on the plate structure. It is required to increase of thickness of the bumper plate and gap between main wall and bumper with increasing impact velocity. A double layer bumper plate consisted of high and low shock impedance materials were tested for reducing weight and gap distance of the protection structure. The double layered bumper plates consisted of 2024 aluminum alloy- copper and 2024 aluminum alloy-aluminum nitride ceramics were tested. It was founded that protection ability of the bumper consisted of front-aluminum nitride ceramics and rear-aluminum alloy is very high for the hypervelocity impact.