Experimental study on the behavior of a new multilayer shield against hypervelocity debris impact

To protect the spacecraft from hypervelocity impact of the space debris, a new kind of multilayer shield laminated of aluminum layers and CFRP layers was designed and investigated. Three different shields with the same area density were manufactured, including single aluminum alloy layer, single CFRP layer, and multilayer of aluminum/CFRP. The hypervelocity impact experiment was carried, in which the hypervelocity projectile was launched by a two-stage light gas gun. To compare the hypervelocity impact behavior and evaluate the protection ability of the different shields, the area and depth of the projectile pits were analyzed. The experiments results show that the protection effect of the multilayer shield laminated of aluminum/CFRP layers is better than the single aluminum layer or the single CFRP layer, though they are in the same area density.