Hypervelocity impact testing of CFRP/AL Honeycomb satellite structures

In this paper, ballistic limit tests on 5 different Carbon-fibre Reinforced (CFRP) Honeycomb (H/C) sandwich panels (SP) are reported. The CFRP H/C SPs presented are typical for application in various current satellite structures. Conductivity measurements of the downrange fragment cloud have been made using electrodes that were mounted on the witness plate. It was found that the fragment cloud acts as a conductive medium between the electrodes, enabling current flows across the electrodes of several tens of milli-amperes with duration of a few milliseconds. Initial impact tests on harnesses behind CFRP H/C SP have been performed. The harnesses consisted of two circuits that were operated at different voltages (28 V and 50V). Besides severe impact damage to the cables, leakage currents between the circuits have been observed. Additionally, large peak voltages in the electrical circuits during hypervelocity impact have been measured.