Overview of Hypervelocity Response of Space Structures to Oblique Impacts

Hypervelocity physics are relatively well understood for normal impact events. There exist numerous high-quality radiographs of debris cloud development at 90° incidence, but experimental studies of similar quality are not available for oblique impact scenarios. While the shock pressures present in hypervelocity impact cause extreme deformation as well as potential melt and vaporization of space structures, the projectile trajectory causes different response that is not well understood. This work utilizes a meshless, discretized particle method to model debris cloud development for oblique impact, discerning important characteristics present in both thick and thin bumper plates in hypervelocity.