Onset of petalling in a thin spacecraft wall perforated by an orbital debris particle

William P. Schonberg

doi:10.1117/12.331227

18 November 1998 Onset of petalling in a thin spacecraft wall perforated by an orbital debris particle

William P. Schonberg

Proceedings Volume 3434, Image Intensifiers and Applications; and Characteristics and Consequences of Space Debris and Near-Earth Objects; (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.331227
Event: SPIE's International Symposium on Optical Science, Engineering, and Instrumentation, 1998, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

All long-duration spacecraft in low-earth-orbit are subject to high speed impacts by meteoroids and orbital debris. As a result, the threat of damage from such high-speed impacts is a major design consideration in the development and construction of long duration earth-orbiting spacecraft. Recent studies have shown that the nature of a spacecraft wall perforation can range from a flat hole with a jagged edge (i.e. a so-called cookie-cutter hole) to a hole accompanied by bulging, cracking, and petaling. If a cracking event were to occur on-orbit, unstable crack growth could develop which could lead to an unzipping of the impacted spacecraft module. It is, therefore, imperative to be able to determine whether or not a spacecraft wall perforation will be accompanied by petaling and cracking. This paper presents the results of a study whose objective was to develop an empirical model that could be used to determine whether a spacecraft wall perforation would be in the form of a petaled hole or a cookie-cutter hole. A petaling limit function was developed to predict the onset of petaling in terms of impact conditions and spacecraft wall system geometry.

Citation Download Citation

William P. Schonberg "Onset of petalling in a thin spacecraft wall perforated by an orbital debris particle", Proc. SPIE 3434, Image Intensifiers and Applications; and Characteristics and Consequences of Space Debris and Near-Earth Objects, (18 November 1998); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.331227

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