A Comparative Study of Hypervelocity Impact Characteristics in Aluminum Whipple Shielding Through 3D Measurement and Numerical Analysis

Abstract

Hypervelocity impact research is key to the designing of shielding systems to protect structures in low earth orbit with risk of space debris impact. Understanding the physical features contributes to the effective development of impact shielding design. In this study, the impact hole area, lip height, and debris cloud impact radius were investigated for impacts up to around 4 km/s for 6061-T6 aluminum panels of 3 mm thickness using a 2-stage light gas gun. Image analysis and 3D scanning were employed to measure the geometric features. Numerical analysis was conducted to simulate the experiment cases and the modeling was verified through comparison of the geometric features. The hole area and debris cloud impact radius showed gradually increasing trends with increasing impact velocity. The 3D scan measurements followed the image analysis, and considering the overall similarity between the 3D scan and numerical simulation, the numerical model satisfactorily reproduced and supported the experimental measurements.