Well-controlled hypervelocity impact experiments, conducted in support of the Space Station Shielding Program, were numerically modeled using two sophisticated hydrocodes, the multi- dimensional hydrodynamics code CTH and the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics code (SPH). The experiments simulated the impact of space debris on single and double (Whipple shield) plate configurations. Impact velocities on the order of 10 km/s were applied to gram sized flier plates and spherical projectiles that struck thin (less than 1 cm) aluminum and steel plates. Computational predictions of the debris cloud dynamics and plate damage for these experiments were analyzed and correlated with the data obtained from pulsed laser photographs.

Date Published: 15 September 1993
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 1951, Space Debris Detection and Mitigation, (15 September 1993); doi: 10.1117/12.156541

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1951:
Space Debris Detection and Mitigation
Firooz A. Allahdadi, Editor(s)