Damage of high velocity impact on basalt - Glass fiber hybrid woven Whipple Shield

In order to protect spacecraft against space debris impacts, it is a feasible direction to develop a shield with high strength, lightweight materials. Basalt fiber is one of the high strength, lightweight, and flexibility materials. The aim of this study was to study the damage of lightweight Whipple shield composed of basalt-glass fibers woven and aluminum plat. High velocity impact tests were carried out by the non-powder two-stage light gas gun facilities at Hypervelocity Impact Research Center in Harbin Institute of Technology. All tests were performed with 0.156g Al projectile at velocity ranging from 4 to 6 km/s. The configuration of Whipple shields consisted of a bumper, a basalt-glass fiber woven and a rear wall with 10 cm space. The basalt-glass fiber woven was placed in front of or behind bumper closely, and between bumper and rear wall. The experimental results showed that the perforation hole in Al bumper has double lips, and some fibers near the perforation hole were covered by melted Al material when the woven was placed behind the bumper. After bullet penetration the fibers were broken mainly by tension and the melting evidence of the fibers were observed on the rear walls. Copyright IAF/IAA. All rights reserved.