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At least 217 records · Page 12
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2003

Ejecta from Ocean Impacts

Numerical simulations of deep-ocean impact provide some limits on the size of a projectile that will not mix with the ocean floor during a deep-ocean impact. For a vertical impact at asteroidal velocities (approx. 20 km/s), mixing is only likely when the projectile diameter is greater than 112 of the water depth. For oblique impacts, even larger projectiles will not mix with ocean floor silicates. Given the typical water depths of 4 to 5 km in deep-ocean basins, asteroidal projectiles with diameters as large as 2 or 3 km may commonly produce silicate ejecta that is composed only of meteoritic materials and seawater salts. However, the compressed water column beneath the projectile can still disrupt and shock metamorphose the ocean floor. Therefore, production of a separate, terrestrial ejecta component is not ruled out in the most extreme case. With increasing projectile size (or energy) relative to water depths, there must be a gradation between oceanic impacts and more conventional continental impacts. Given that 60% of the Earth's surface is covered by oceanic lithosphere and 500 m projectiles impact the Earth on 10(exp 5) y timescales, there must be hundreds of oceanic impact deposits in the sediment record awaiting discovery.

Kyte, Frank T.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Multi-Shock Shield Performance at 15 MJ for Catalogued Debris

While orbital debris of ten centimeters or more are tracked and catalogued, the difficulty of finding and accurately accounting for forces acting on the objects near the ten centimeter threshold results in both uncertainty of their presence and location. These challenges result in difficult decisions for operators balancing potential costly operational approaches with system loss risk. In this paper, the assessment of the feasibility of protecting a spacecraft from this catalogued debris is described using numerical simulations and a test of a multi-shock shield system against a cylindrical projectile impacting normal to the surface with approximately 15 MJ of kinetic energy. The hypervelocity impact test has been conducted at the Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) with a 598 g projectile at 6.905 km/s on a NASA supplied multi-shock shield. The projectile used is a hollow aluminum and nylon cylinder with an outside diameter of 8.6 cm and length of 10.3 cm. Figure 1 illustrates the multi-shock shield test article, which consisted of five separate bumpers, four of which are fiberglass fabric and one of steel mesh, and two rear walls, each consisting of Kevlar fabric. The overall length of the test article was 2.65 m. The test article was a 5X scaled-up version of a smaller multi-shock shield previously tested using a 1.4 cm diameter aluminum projectile for an inflatable module project. The distances represented by S1 and S1/2 in the figure are 61 cm and 30.5 cm, respectively. Prior to the impact test, hydrodynamic simulations indicated that some enhancement to the standard multi-shock system is needed to address the effects of the cylindrical shape of the projectile. Based on the simulations, a steel mesh bumper has been added to the shield configuration to enhance the fragmentation of the projectile. The AEDC test occurred as planned, and the modified NASA multi-shock shield successfully stopped 598 g projectile using 85.6 kg/m(exp 2). The fifth bumper layer remained in tact, although it was torn free from its support structure and thrown into the first rear wall. The outer Kevlar layer of the first rear wall tore likely from the impact of the fifth bumper's support structure, but the back of the rear wall was intact. No damage occurred to the second rear wall, or to the witness plate behind the target.

Miller, J. E.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Analytic Ballistic Performance Model of Whipple Shields

The dual-wall Whipple shield is the shield of choice for lightweight, long-duration flight. The shield uses an initial sacrificial wall to initiate fragmentation and melt an impacting threat that expands over a void before hitting a subsequent shield wall of a critical component. The key parameters to this type of shield are the rear wall and its mass which stops the debris, as well as the minimum pressure generated under threat particle impact of the sacrificial wall and the amount of void that is available for expansion. Ensuring the minimum pressure is sufficiently high to achieve large scale fragmentation/melt of the threat particle enables the expansion of the threat and reduces the momentum flux of the debris on the rear wall. Three key factors in the minimum pressure achieved are the thickness of the sacrificial wall relative to the characteristic dimension of the impacting particle, the density and material cohesion contrast of the sacrificial wall relative to the threat particle and the impact speed. The mass of the rear wall and the sacrificial wall are desirable to minimize for launch costs and dynamic concerns making it important to have an understanding of the effects of density contrast and impact speed. In this paper a fourth key parameter is identified related to fragmentation, which corresponds to the ratio of the size of the projectile relative to the transition from brittle to ductile hole growth in the projectile. Ballistic limit equations have been developed to define the failure limits of a MMOD shield, generally in terms of projectile diameter (or mass), impact velocity, and angle. Within the range of impact velocities relevant for Earth-orbiting spacecraft, three distinct regions of penetration phenomenology have been identified for Whipple shields: center dot Low velocity: the projectile is eroded (and possibly deformed) during its passage through the bumper plate, but is not fragmented. Thus, perforation of the rear wall is by a fragment with a mass and speed equal to or less than the original impactor. center dot Intermediate (shatter) velocity: impact velocities are sufficient to induce projectile fragmentation upon impact with the bumper plate, resulting in a coarse debris cloud with large solid fragments. Increasing velocity within the shatter regime results in increased fragmentation, and eventually melting, of the projectile and bumper fragments, generating a finer and more evenly dispersed debris cloud. Failure of the rear wall is a complicated combination of modes observed at low- and hypervelocity. center dot Hypervelocity: the projectile and holed-out bumper material is completely, or nearly completely, melted and/or vaporized by the initial impact. The resultant debris cloud impacts over a dispersed area of the rear wall, loading it impulsively and inducing failure through rupture or petalling. While each of these regimes are well observed with extensive empirical methods to describe these regions, differences in impactor materials, configurations of shields and questions about the limitations of the attainable impact speeds have left questions that are difficult to answer from completely empirical methods.

Miller, J. E.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Impact of Thermoplastic Composites: Testing and Modeling

Thermoplastic Composites (TPCs) are being increasingly considered for aerospace applications given their faster manufacturing cycles and lower cost. The NASA High-Rate Composite Aircraft Manufacturing (HiCAM) project aims to evaluate and mature thermoplastic manufacturing technologies to achieve a 4X – 6X increase in the production rate of Next Generation Single Aisle (NGSA) commercial aircraft. Within the purview of the NASA HiCAM project, this work investigates the response of thermoplastic composites under High Energy Dynamic Impact (HEDI) conditions. HEDI tests were conducted on panels fabricated with a carbon fiber reinforced low melt semi-crystalline resin TC1225 LMPAEK T700G (T700/LMPAEK) material system. A blunt metal projectile was chosen as the impactor which impacted the T700/LMPAEK panels over a range of impact velocities imparted by a gas gun test setup. As expected, lower velocity impacts caused the projectile to rebound, whereas higher velocity impacts resulted in the projectile penetrating the test panels. For the test cases in which the projectile rebounded, the predominant damage modes recorded with Ultrasonic (UT) scans included interlaminar delaminations which exhibited a “rotating fan” like structure when viewed in the through-thickness direction. Additionally, the dynamic deflection of the center point of the back face of the test panels and the velocity of the projectile was also measured during the test. Finite element models were developed to model a test case in which the projectile rebounded. These models were developed using LS-DYNA® wherein the primary objective was to evaluate the ability of the material model MAT299 to capture the dynamic response and damage modes in the T700/LMPAEK test panels. MAT299 is a Deformation Gradient Decomposition (DGD) based Continuum Damage Mechanics (CDM) material model. The interlaminar delaminations were modeled using the cohesive contact formulation available within LS-DYNA, wherein the mixed-mode fracture is captured via the Benzegaggh-Kenane (B-K) mode-dependent fracture energy interpolation law. The above-mentioned modeling methods have mostly been applied to thermoset composites and adapting them to TPCs involves addressing challenges associated with appropriately representing material behavior. Therefore, the proposed paper would discuss the systematic approach taken to adapt thermoset composites modeling practices for applications to TPCs, while appropriately addressing material behavior. The proposed paper would show that the predicted back face center point deflection correlated reasonably well with experimental data and the peak deflection was predicted to be within 5% of the experimental measurements. The projectile rebound velocity, while predicted to be higher than the experimental measurement, was within reasonable bounds. Additionally, it will be shown that the predicted delamination shapes were in reasonable agreement with experimental data.

Composite Materials↗
NASA NTRS1991

Impact decapitation from laboratory to basin scales

Although vertical hypervelocity impacts result in the annihilation (melting/vaporization) of the projectile, oblique impacts (less than 15 deg) fundamentally change the partitioning of energy with fragments as large as 10 percent of the original projectile surviving. Laboratory experiments reveal that both ductile and brittle projectiles produce very similar results where limiting disruption depends on stresses proportional to the vertical velocity component. Failure of the projectile at laboratory impact velocities (6 km/s) is largely controlled by stresses established before the projectile has penetrated a significant distance into the target. The planetary surface record exhibits numerous examples of oblique impacts with evidence fir projectile failure and downrange sibling collisions.

Schultz, P. H.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Structural Damage Prediction and Analysis for Hypervelocity Impact: Properties of Largest Fragment Produced by Hypervelocity Impact of Aluminum Spheres with Thin Aluminum Sheets

Results of a series of hypervelocity impact tests are presented. In these tests, 1.275-g, 9.53-mm-diameter, 2017-T4 aluminum spheres were fired at normal incidence at eight thicknesses of 6061-T6 aluminum sheet. Bumper thickness to projectile diameter (t/D) ratio ranged from 0.026 to 0.424. Nominal impact velocity was 6.7 km/s. Results of five tests using 6.35, 9.53, and 12.70-mm-diameter aluminum spheres and other aluminum alloy bumpers are also given. A large chunky fragment of projectile was observed at the center of the debris clouds produced by the impacts. The equivalent diameter of this large fragment ranged from 5.5 mm for the lowest t/D ratio to a minimum of 0.6 mm for the case where maximum breakup of the projectile occurred (t/D approximately 0.2 to 0.3). When the t/D ratio was 0.42, numerous large flaky fragments were evenly distributed in the external bubble of bumper debris. Velocity of the large central fragments decreased continuously with increasing t/D ratio, ranging from about 99 percent to less than 80 percent of the impact velocity. The change in the velocity of small fragments spalling from the rear of the projectile was used to obtain a relationship showing a linear increase in the size of the central projectile fragment with decrease in the shock-induced stress in the projectile.

Piekutowski, Andrew J.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Impact Resistance of EBC Coated SiC/SiC Composites

Impact performance of 2-D woven SiC/SiC composites coated with 225 and 525 m thick environmental barrier coating (EBC) was investigated. The composites were fabricated by melt infiltration and the EBC was deposited by plasma spray. Impact tests were conducted at room temperature and at 1316 C in air using 1.59-mm diameter steel-balls at projectile velocities ranging from 110 to 375 m/s. Both microscopy and nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods were used to determine the extent of damage in the substrate and coating with increasing projectile velocity. The impacted specimens were tensile tested at room temperature to determine their residual mechanical properties. At projectile velocities less than 125 m/s, no detectable damage was noticed in the MI SiC/SiC composites coated with 525 m EBC. With increase in projectile velocity beyond this value, spallation of EBC layers, delamination of fiber plies, and fiber fracture were detected. At a fixed projectile velocity, the composites coated with 525 m EBC showed less damage than the composite coated with 225 m EBC. Both types of EBC coated composites retained a large fraction of the baseline properties of as-fabricated composites and exhibited non-brittle failure after impact testing at projectile velocities up to 375 m/s. Exposure of impact tested specimens in a moisture environment at 1316 C for 500 hr indicated that the through-the-thickness cracks in the EBC coating and delamination cracks in the substrate generated after impact testing acted as conduits for internal oxidation.

Fox, Dennis S.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Tethered Pyrotechnic Apparatus for Acquiring a Ground Sample

A proposed alternative design for the balloon-borne ground-sampling system described in the immediately preceding article would not rely on free fall to drive a harpoonlike sample-collecting device into the ground. Instead, the harpoon-like sample-collecting device would be a pyrotechnically driven, tethered projectile. The apparatus would include a tripod that would be tethered to the gondola. A gun for shooting the projectile into the ground would be mounted at the apex of the tripod. The gun would include an electronic trigger circuit, a chamber at the breech end containing a pyrotechnic charge, and a barrel. A sabot would be placed in the barrel just below the pyrotechnic charge, and the tethered projectile would be placed in the barrel just below the sabot. The tripod feet would be equipped with contact sensors connected to the trigger circuit. In operation, the tripod would be lowered to the ground on its tether. Once contact with the ground was detected by the sensors on all three tripod feet, the trigger circuit would fire the pyrotechnic charge to drive the projectile into the ground. (Requiring contact among all three tripod feet and the ground would ensure that the projectile would be fired into the ground, rather than up toward the gondola or the balloon.) The tethered projectile would then be reeled back up to the gondola for analysis of the sample.

Jones, Jack↗
NASA NTRS2019

Coilgun Acceleration Model Containing Multiple Interacting Coils

A coilgun operates by pulsing current through an axially-arranged series of independently-controlled coils inductively interacting with a small, electrically-conductive, azimuthally-symmetric projectile to accelerate it to high velocities. The electrical circuits are programmed to pulse current through the coils in such a way so as to impart further electromagnetic acceleration in each stage. A method is developed to calculate the mutual inductance between the coils and between each coil and the projectile. These terms are used to write a system of first-order ordinary differential equations governing the projectile velocity and the current flow in each coil. While the inclusion of the electromagnetic interactions between coils significantly complicates the equation set as more coil sets are included in the problem, casting the problem symbolically in mass matrix form permits solution using standard numerical Runge-Kutta techniques. Comparing a projectile with a single-turn to that comprised of nine-turns, the inductance of the former is much smaller, but this leads to a greater induced projectile current. The lower inductance and greater current appear to offset each other with little difference in the acceleration profile for the two cases. For the limited cases studied, coils with a discharge half-cycle equal to the time for a projectile to transit from one coil to the next yield increased efficiency.

Polzin, Kurt A.↗
NASA NTRS1966

Momentum Transfer and Cratering Phenomena Associated With the Impact of Aluminum Spheres Into Thick Aluminum Targets at Velocities to 24,000 Feet Per Second

Spheres of 2017-T4 aluminum with diameters of, 1/16, 1/8, and ½ inch were launched into semi-infinite targets of 2024-T4 and 1100-0 aluminum. The momentum transfer during impact was measured by means of a simple ballistic pendulum to which the target was attached. The ratio of target momentum to projectile momentum increased with increasing projectile velocity and with projectile diameter. Mass loss due to cratering, penetration, and crater diameter were also obtained for these experiments. It was noted that the variation of these parameters was also a function of the projectile diameter. No conclusive evidence was uncovered to explain this apparent scale effect. However, close examination of the various craters suggests that the cratering process is, in fact, different for the different size projectiles. The cause for this difference has yet to be resolved.

MOMENTUM TRANSFER↗
NASA NTRS1972

Craters formed in mineral dust by hypervelocity microparticles.

As a simulation of erosion processes on the lunar surface, impact craters were formed in dust targets by 2- to 5-micron-diameter polystyrene spheres with velocities between 2.5 and 12 km/sec. For weakly cohesive, thick targets of basalt dust with a maximum grain size comparable to the projectile diameter, the craters had an average projectile-to-diameter diameter ratio of 25, and the displaced mass was 3 orders of magnitude greater than the projectile mass. In a simulation of the effect of a dust covering on lunar rocks, a layer of cohesive, fine-grained basalt dust with a thickness nearly twice the projectile diameter protected a glass substrate from damage, but an area about 50 times the cross-sectional area of the projectile was cleared of all but a few grains. Impact damage was produced in glass under a thinner dust layer.

Vedder, J. F.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Electromagnetic Meissner-Effect Launcher

Proposed electromagnetic Meissner-effect launching apparatus differs from previous electromagnetic launchers; no need for electromagnet coil on projectile. Result, no need for brush contacts and high-voltage commutation equipment to supply current directly to projectile coil, or for pulse circuitry to induce current in projectile coil if brush contacts not used. Compresses magnetic field surrounding rear surface of projectile, creating gradient of magnetic pressure pushing projectile forward.

Robertson, Glen A.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Experiments on hypersonic ramjet propulsion cycles using a ram accelerator

Work on hypersonic propulsion research using a ram accelerator is presented. Several different ram accelerator propulsive cycles have been experimentally demonstrated over the Mach number range of 3 to 8.5. The subsonic, thermally choked combustion mode has accelerated projectiles to near the Chapman-Jouguet (C-J) detonation velocity within many different propellant mixtures. In the transdetonative velocity regime (85 to 115 percent of C-J speed), projectiles have established a propulsive cycle which allows them to transition smoothly from subdetonative to superdetonative velocities. Luminosity data indicate that the combustion process moves forward onto the projectile body as it approaches the C-J speed. In the superdetonative velocity range, the projectiles accelerate while always traveling faster than the C-J velocity. Ram accelerator projectiles operating continuously through these velocity regimes generate distinctive hypersonic phenomena which can be studied very effectively in the laboratory. These results would be very useful for validating sophisticated CFD computer codes and in collecting engineering data for potential airbreathing hypersonic propulsive systems.

Chew, G.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Chemical fractionation of siderophile elements in impactites from Australian meteorite craters

The abundance pattern of siderophile elements in terrestrial and lunar impact melt rocks was used extensively to infer the nature of the impacting projectiles. An implicit assumption made is that the siderophile abundance ratios of the projectiles are approximately preserved during mixing of the projectile constituents with the impact melts. As this mixture occurs during flow of strongly shocked materials at high temperatures, however there are grounds for suspecting that the underlying assumption is not always valid. In particular, fractionation of the melted and partly vaporized material of the projectile might be expected because of differences in volatility, solubility in silicate melts, and other characteristics of the constituent elements. Impactites from craters with associated meteorites offer special opportunities to test the assumptions on which projectile identifications are based and to study chemical fractionation that occurred during the impact process.

Attrep, A., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1992

High spatial resolution measurements of ram accelerator gas dynamic phenomena

High spatial resolution experimental tube wall pressure measurements of ram accelerator gas dynamic phenomena are presented. The projectile resembles the centerbody of a ramjet and travels supersonically through a tube filled with a combustible gaseous mixture, with the tube acting as the outer cowling. Pressure data are recorded as the projectile passes by sensors mounted in the tube wall at various locations along the tube. Data obtained by using a special highly instrumented section of tube has allowed the recording of gas dynamic phenomena with a spatial resolution on the order of one tenth the projectile length. High spatial resolution tube wall pressure data from the three regimes of propulsion studied to date (subdetonative, transdetonative, and superdetonative) are presented and reveal the 3D character of the flowfield induced by projectile fins and the canting of the projectile body relative to the tube wall. Also presented for comparison to the experimental data are calculations made with an inviscid, 3D CFD code.

Hinkey, J. B.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Interplanetary meteoroid debris in LDEF metal craters

We have examined craters in Al and Au LDEF surfaces to determine the nature of meteoroid residue in the rare cases where projectile material is abundantly preserved in the crater floor. Typical craters contain only small amounts of residue and we find that less than 10 percent of the craters in Al have retained abundant residue consistent with survival of a significant fraction (greater than 20 percent) of the projectile mass. The residue-rich craters can usually be distinguished optically because their interiors are darker than ones with little or no apparent projectile debris. The character of the meteoroid debris in these craters ranges from thin glass liners, to thick vesicular glass containing unmelted mineral fragments, to debris dominated by unmelted mineral fragments. In the best cases of meteoroid survival, unmelted mineral fragments preserve both information on projectile mineralogy as well as other properties such as nuclear tracks caused by solar flare irradiation. The wide range of the observed abundance and alteration state of projectile residue is most probably due to differences in impact velocity. The crater liners are being studied to determine the composition of meteoroids reaching the Earth. The compositional types most commonly seen in the craters are: (1) chondritic (Mg, Si, S, Fe in approximately solar proportions), (2) Mg silicate. amd (3) iron sulfide. These are also the most common compositional types of extraterrestrial particle types collected in the stratosphere. The correlation between these compositions indicates that vapor fractionation was not a major process influencing residue composition in these craters. Although the biases involved with finding analyzable meteoroid debris in metal craters differ from those for extraterrestrial particles collected in and below the atmosphere, there is a common bias favoring particles with low entry velocity. For craters this is very strong and probably all of the metal craters with abundant residue were caused by asteroidal dust impacting at minimum velocities.

Brownlee, D. E.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Analytical and experimental investigation of the feasibility of accelerated lifetime testing of materials exposed to an atomic oxygen beam

The interaction of atomic particles with surfaces is of both scientific and technological interest. Past work emphasizes the measurement of high-energy sputtering yields. Very little work utilized low-energy beams for which chemical and electronic effects can be important. Even less work has been carried out using well-defined low-energy projectiles. The use of low-energy, reactive projectiles permits one to investigate surface processes that have not been well characterized. As the energy of the projectile decreases, the collisional cascades and spikes, that are common for high-energy projectiles, become less important, and chemical and electronic effects can play a significant role. Aspects of particle-surface interactions are of concern in several areas of technology. For example, the erosion, desorption, and glow of surfaces of spacecraft in orbit are important in the arena of space technology. The materials studied under this contract are of possible use on the exterior portions of the power generation system of Space Station Freedom. Under the original designs, Space Station Freedom's power generation system would generate potential differences on the surface as high as 200 volts. Ions in the plasma that often surround orbiting vehicles would be accelerated by these potentials leading to bombardment and erosion of the exposed surfaces. The major constituent of the atmosphere, approximately 90 percent, in the low earth orbit region is atomic oxygen. Since atomic oxygen is extremely reactive with most materials, chemical effects can arise in addition to the physical sputtering caused by the acceleration of the oxygen ions. Furthermore, the incident oxygen ions can remain embedded in the exposed surfaces, altering the chemical composition of the surfaces. Since the effective binding energy of a chemically altered surface can be quite different from that of the pure substrate, the sputtering yield of a chemically altered surface is usually different also. The low-energy O+ sputtering yield measurements, reported here, will help quantify the erosion rates for materials exposed to the low-earth orbit environment. These measurements are of technological importance in another respect. In most surface analysis techniques, a surface is bombarded with ions, electrons or photons. Information concerning the structure of the surface and near-surface bulk, abundance of impurities and defects, as well as other surface properties are obtained either from the desorbed species or from the scattered projectiles. Because of their low penetration depth, low-energy ions provide an advantage over other techniques because they provide information that is more indicative of conditions on the surface rather than integrated effects arising from deeper in the bulk. A better understanding of the microscopic processes involved in these interactions is not only of basic scientific interest, but will also aid the scientific community by increasing the accuracy and usefulness of these surface analysis techniques.

Albridge, Royal↗
NASA NTRS1994

Laboratory simulation of intact capture of cometary and asteroidal dust particles in ISAS

In order to develop a collector for intact capturing of cometary dust particles in the SOCCER mission and regolith dust particles released from asteroid surfaces by the impact of projectiles launched from a flying-by spacecraft, various kinds of materials as the collector candidates have been exposed to hypervelocity projectiles in our laboratory. Data based on the penetration characteristics of various materials (penetration depth, hole profile, effectiveness for intact capturing) are greatly increased. The materials tested for these simulation experiments include various kinds of low-density media and multisheet stacks; these are foamed plastics (polystyrene 0.01 g/cc), silica aerogels (0.04 g/cc), air (0.001 g/cc), liquid, and multisheet stack consisting of thin Al sheets (thickness 0.002 to 0.1 mm) or polyethylene sheets. Projectiles used are spheres or cylinders of nylon, polycarbonate, basalt, copper, iron, and volatile organics (e.g.,paradichlorobenzene) of size ranging from 30 micrometers to 1 cm launched by a two-stage light gas gun and a rail gun in ISAS at velocity up to about 7 km/s. Some results obtained by using nylon projectiles of velocity less than about 5 km/s are presented; the penetration depth vs. bulk density of the collector material for several kinds of materials and the velocity at which the projectiles begin to fragment vs. material density for foamed polystyrene.

Fujiwara, A.↗