Experimental research on performance of hybrid whipple shield with Al-mesh and basalt fiber woven

Basalt fiber woven is a new type of material for shield of spacecrafts when subjected to hypervelocity impact of space debris because of its high specific strength, high specific modulus and other favorable characteristics. Three different Hybrid Whipple Shields based on basalt fiber woven and Al-mesh were presented under the concept of light-weight shield structure, i.e. a basalt fibre woven/Al-mesh Stuffed Whipple Shield and a Multi-Shock Shield as well as a Mesh Double-bumper Shield. Their shield performances were compared through hypervelocity impact experiments using two-stage light gas gun. The projectile launched was 2017 aluminum sphere with its diameter fixed to be 3.97mm and the impact velocity was between 2.0-5.5km/s with a 0 degree incident angle. The damage of the bumpers included and the rear wall were examined thoroughly after impact and compared to each other to evaluate the shield performance of different configurations. The experimental results indicated that within the speed range tested, the basalt fibre woven/Al-mesh Stuffed Whipple Shield has better performance than the other two shields, especially at the velocity region from 3.5km/s to 5.5km/s.