Study on Numerical Simulation Methods for Hypervelocity Impact on Large-Scale Complex Spacecraft Structures

This paper aims to study the difference of results in breakup state judgment, debris cloud and fragment characteristic parameter during hypervelocity impact (HVI) on large-scale complex spacecraft structures by various numerical simulation methods. We compared the results of the test of aluminum projectile impact on an aluminum plate with the simulation results of the smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH), finite element method (FEM)-smoothed particle Galerkin (SPG) fixed coupling method, node separation method, and finite element method-smooth particle hydrodynamics adaptive coupling method under varying mesh/particle sizes. Then based on the test of the complex simulated satellite under hypervelocity impact of space debris, the most applicable algorithm was selected and used to verify the accuracy of the calculation results. It was found that the finite element method-smooth particle hydrodynamics adaptive coupling method has lower mesh sensitivity in displaying the contour of the debris cloud and calculating its characteristic parameters, making it more suitable for the full-scale numerical simulation of hypervelocity impact. Moreover, this algorithm can simulate the macro breakup state of the full-scale model with complex structure and output debris fragments with clear boundaries and accurate shapes. This study provides numerical simulation method options for the follow-up research on breakup conditions, damage effects, debris clouds, and fragment characteristics of large-scale complex spacecraft.

Empirical constraints on progressive shock metamorphism of magnetite from the Siljan impact structure, Sweden

Little is known about the microstructural behavior of magnetite during hypervelocity impact events, even though it is a widespread accessory mineral and an important magnetic carrier in terrestrial and extraterrestrial rocks. We report systematic electron backscatter diffraction crystallographic analysis of shock features in magnetite from a transect across the 52-km-diameter ca. 380 Ma Siljan impact structure in Sweden. Magnetite grains in granitoid samples contain brittle fracturing, crystal-plasticity, and lamellar twins. Deformation twins along {111} with shear direction of <112> are consistent with spinel-law twins. Inferred bulk shock pressures for the investigated samples, as constrained by planar deformation features (PDFs) in quartz and shock twins in zircon, range from 0 to 20 GPa; onset of shock-induced twinning in magnetite is observed at >5 GPa. These results highlight the utility of magnetite to record shock deformation in rocks that experience shock pressures >5 GPa, which may be useful in quartz-poor samples. Despite significant hydrothermal alteration and the variable transformation of host magnetite to hematite, shock effects are preserved, which demonstrates that magnetite is a reliable mineral for preserving shock deformation over geologic time.

Modeling Early Clustering of Impact-induced Ejecta Particles Based on Laboratory and Numerical Experiments

A projectile impact onto a granular target produces an ejecta curtain with heterogeneous material distribution. Understanding how the heterogeneous pattern forms is potentially important for understanding how crater rays form. Previous studies predicted that the pattern formation is induced by inelastic collisions of ejecta particles in early stages of crater formation and terminated by the ejecta’s expanding motion. In this study, we test this prediction based on a hypervelocity impact experiment together with N-body simulations where the trajectories of inelastically colliding granular particles are calculated. Our laboratory experiment suggests that pattern formation is already completed on a timescale comparable to the geometrical expansion of the ejecta curtain, which is ∼10 μs in our experiment. Our simulations confirm the previous prediction that the heterogeneous pattern grows through initial inelastic collisions of particle clusters and subsequent geometric expansion with no further cluster collisions. Furthermore, to better understand the two-stage evolution of the mesh pattern, we construct a simple analytical model that assumes perfect coalescence of particle clusters upon collision. The model shows that the pattern formation is completed on the timescale of the system’s expansion independently of the initial conditions. The model also reproduces the final size of the clusters observed in our simulations as a function of the initial conditions. It is known that particles in the target are ejected at lower speeds with increased distance to the impact point. The difference in the ejection speed of the particles may result in the evolution of the mesh pattern into rays.

Atomistic Simulations on Metal Rod Penetrating Thin Target at Nanoscale Caused by High-Speed Collision

The penetration process has attracted increasing attention due to its engineering and scientific value. In this work, we investigate the deformation and damage mechanism about the nanoscale penetration of single-crystal aluminum nanorod with atomistic simulations, where distinct draw ratio (∅) and different incident velocities (up) are considered. The micro deformation processes of no penetration state (within 2 km/s) and complete penetration (above 3 km/s) are both revealed. The high-speed bullet can cause high pressure and temperature at the impacted region, promoting the localized plastic deformation and even solid-liquid phase transformation. It is found that the normalized velocity of nanorod reduces approximately exponentially during penetration (up < 3 km/s), but its residual velocity linearly increased with initial incident velocity. Moreover, the impact crater is also calculated and the corresponding radius is manifested in the linear increase trend with up while inversely proportional to the ∅. Interestingly, the uniform fragmentation is observed instead of the intact spallation, attributed to the relatively thin thickness of the target. It is additionally demonstrated that the number of fragments increases with increasing up and its size distribution shows power law damping nearly. Our findings are expected to provide the atomic insight into the micro penetration phenomena and be helpful to further understand hypervelocity impact related domains.

Mechanically excellent nacre-inspired protective steel-concrete composite against hypervelocity impacts

Steel–concrete (SC) composite widely used in military defensive project is due to its impressive mechanical properties, long-lived service, and low cost. However, the growing use of hypervelocity kinetic weapons in the present war puts forward higher requirements for the anti-explosion and penetration performance of military protection engineering. Here, inspired by the special ‘brick-and-mortar’ (BM) structural feature of natural nacre, we successfully construct a nacre-inspired steel–concrete (NISC) engineering composite with 2510 kg/m3, possessing nacre-like lamellar architecture via a bottom-up assembling technique. The NISC engineering composite exhibits nacreous BM structural similarity, high compressive strength of 68.5 MPa, compress modulus of 42.0 GPa, Mohs hardness of 5.5, Young’s modulus of 41.5 GPa, and shear modulus of 18.4 GPa, higher than pure concrete. More interestingly, the hypervelocity impact tests reveal the penetration capability of our NISC target material is obviously stronger than that of pure concrete, enhanced up to about 46.8% at the striking velocity of 1 km/s and approximately 30.9% at the striking velocity of 2 km/s, respectively, by examining the damages of targets, the trajectories, penetration depths, and residual projectiles. This mechanically integrated enhancement can be attributed to the nacre-like BM structural architecture derived from assembling the special steel-bar array frame-reinforced concrete platelets. This study highlights a key role of nacre-like structure design in promoting the enhanced hypervelocity impact resistance of steel–concrete composites.

Microscopic and Macroscopic Fragmentation Characteristics under Hypervelocity Impact Based on MD and SPH Method

This work investigates the difference in the fragmentation characteristics between the microscopic and macroscopic scales under hypervelocity impact, with the simulations of Molecular Dynamics (MD) and Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method. Under low shock intensity, the model at microscopic scale exhibits good penetration resistance due to the constraint of strength and surface tension. The bullet is finally embedded into the target, rather than forming a typical debris cloud at macroscopic scale. Under high shock intensity, the occurrence of unloading melting of the sample reduces the strength of the material. The material at the microscopic scale has also been completely penetrated. However, the width of the ejecta veil and external bubble of the debris cloud are narrower. In addition, the residual velocity of bullet, crater diameter and expansion angle of the debris cloud at microscopic scale are all smaller than those at macroscopic scale, especially for low-velocity conditions. The difference can be as much as two times. These characteristics indicate that the degree of conversion of kinetic energy to internal energy at the microscopic scale is much higher than that of the macroscopic results. Furthermore, the MD simulation method can further provide details of the physical characteristics at the micro-scale. As the shock intensity increases, the local melting phenomenon becomes more pronounced, accompanied by a decrease in dislocation atoms and a corresponding increase in disordered atoms. In addition, the fraction of disordered atoms is found to increase exponentially with the increasing incident kinetic energy.