Hypervelocity Impact Testing of a Metallic Glass‐Stuffed Whipple Shield

Abstract

In this work, hypervelocity impact tests up to 7 km Á s À1 are used to compare the performance of Whipple shields integrated with layers of metallic glasses with a baseline target analogue of one of the shields similar to what is used on the International Space Station. The baseline target failed under the impact while the target utilizing metallic glass as a replacement for the fabric layers in the baseline passed the test. The paper postulates on the prospects of future implementation of metallic glasses as spacecraft debris shields.

Scaling Law for Impact Resistance of Amorphous Alloys Connecting Atomistic Molecular Dynamics with Macroscale Experiments

“…11−13 Similarly, using metallic glasses as intermediate layers increased significantly the impact-protective performance of the Whipple structure. 12 With decreasing the thickness to nanoscale, the 60nm-thick Ni 60 Ta 40 amorphous alloy nanofilm exhibited excellent impact resistance subjected to micro-ballistic impact, which is comparable to Kevlar fiber. 13 The shear banding, cracking, and bending of cracking-induced petals are the main energy dissipation modes beyond the localized perforated hole, which is strongly dependent on impact velocities.…”

Metallic glass roadmap

“…Upon dynamic or shock loadings, MGs that are already in a metastable state undergo intense non-equilibrium processes due to the ultra-short-time limit, thus exhibiting some unique behaviors that are very different from those in quasi-static situations [1238,1247,1248]. For example, high-strength Febased MG coating or ribbons are applied to the Whipple spaceshield structure as reinforced bumper materials and they show excellent resistance to hypervelocity projectile impacts [1254,1255]. Very recently, through laser-induced shock experiments, Zhu et al [1199] reported the remarkable spall strength (11.5 GPa) of a Cu 50 Zr 50 MG that exceeds one tenth of the Young's modulus limit at strain rates greater than 10 7 s −1 .…”

“…To answer this question needs an advanced experimental technique combing high spatiotemporal-resolved imaging with controllable dynamic tension. (6) Compared with their crystalline counterparts, MGs ranging from bulk to nanoscale samples have exhibited superior impact resistance to both high-speed projectile and shock wave [1252,1254,1255,1275,1276]. This benefits from the diverse dissipation modes of cold energy beyond adiabatic heating.…”

“…After capturing solar wind using these BMG collectors, the material was dissolved via etching techniques to obtain 0.1 grams of solar material for research into the origins of the solar system. To protect spacecraft and satellites from the collisions with orbital debris, DH1 (Zr 36.6 Ti 31.4 Nb 7 Cu 5.9 Be 19.1 ) BMGC shield fabricated by semisolid forging with high hardness (as shown in figure 43), ultra-high strength-to-weight ratio was reported in 2013 by joint work between JPL, California Institute of Technology and the University of Southern California [1255,1275,1276]. Hypervelocity impact testing was performed by firing aluminum sphere at 2.3 km s −1 , and the three-layer BMGC eggbox structure demonstrated significantly superior protection compared to conventional aluminum honeycomb sandwich panel structures.…”

“…From 2001 to 2004, MGs were used in the Genesis Discovery Mission to successfully collect the samples of the solar wind, which reveals the origin of neon isotope composition in lunar samples [1388]. Subsequently, many efforts have been made, by the researchers mainly from National Aeronautics and Space administration (NASA), European Space Agency (ESA), German Aerospace Center (DLR), China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), etc., have been engaged in the research on the space applications of MGs [1255,1291,1292,[1389][1390][1391][1392][1393][1394]. Properties, such as high strength, relative low modulus, superlative plastic deformation ability, excellent wear resistance, allow MGs to have the potential to be used as compliant mechanisms in spacecrafts [1389,1390], such as harmonic drives [1291], which can achieve high efficiency in the transmission of force and motion.…”