Simulation of hypervelocity impact on aluminum-nextel-keviar orbital debris shields

Composite materials play an important role in the design of spacecraft protection systems. An example is the aluminum-Nextel-Kevlar shields now deployed on the International Space Station. Accurate material models and efficient numerical methods are needed, to simulate the hypervelocity impact response of such systems. Recent research has included numerical implementation of a rate dependent material model for Kevlar, and three dimensional simulations of composite shielding performance at impact velocities of seven and eleven kilometers per second. The simulation results conservatively estimate the protection afforded by multi-layered aluminum-Nextel-Kevlar shielding. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.