Damage of 5A06 Whipple Shield Caused by Hypervelocity Impact of Al 2017 Sphere

In order to get the damage mode and resist character of spacecraft shield structure by the high-velocity impact of space debris,a two-stage light gas gun with X ray high velocity photography system was used to launch Al 2017 sphere projectiles impacting on 5A06 aluminum alloy Whipple shield.By analyzing damage mode in different impact velocity(2～5.2 km /s),projectile diameter(1.5 mm,4 mm,6.35 mm) and bumper thickness(0.5 mm,1.5 mm,2 mm and 3 mm),the laws of penetration hole diameter of bumper and damage of bulkhead were obtained.Based on X photograph,the characteristics of debris clouds were analyzed in quantity,then the explanations for damage of bulkhead from the view of debris clouds were purposed.