The Whipple bumper is a space shield designed to protect a space station from the most hazardous orbital space debris environment. A series of numerical simulations has been performed using the multi-dimensional hydrodynamics code CTH to estimate the effectiveness of the thin Whipple bumper design. These simulations are performed for impact velocities of (approximately)10 km/s which are now accessible by experiments using the Sandia hypervelocity launcher facility. For a (approximately)10 km/s impact by a 0.7 gm aluminum flier plate, the experimental results indicate that the debris cloud resulting upon impact of the bumper shield by the flier plate, completely penetrates the sub-structure. The CTH simulations also predict complete penetration by the subsequent debris cloud. 5 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs.


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Whipple bumper shield simulations


    Contributors:

    Publication date :

    1991


    Size :

    14 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English




    Whipple bumper shield tests at over 10 km/s

    L. C. Chhabildas / E. S. Hertel / S. A. Hill | NTIS | 1991


    Orbital Debris Impact on a Simple Whipple Bumper Shield

    Hertel, E. S. / Chhabildas, L. C. / Institute of Environmental Sciences et al. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 1993


    Experimental and Numerical Simulations of Orbital Debris Impact on a Simple Whipple Bumper Shield

    Chhabildas, L. C. / Hertel, E. S. / Hill, S. A. et al. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 1992



    Bumper shield

    WRIGHT LEON | European Patent Office | 2019

    Free access