Experimental and numerical study of hypervelocity impact damage in composite materials fabricated by filament winding

• The hypervelocity impact behavior of filament-wound composites is studied.
• Damage induced by hypervelocity impacts depends on winding pattern and pre-loading.
• A meso-scale approach for modeling of the impact damage is introduced and verified.

This paper investigates the behavior of composite materials fabricated by filament winding when subjected to hypervelocity impacts (HVI) by orbital debris. Experimental data revealed that damage induced by orbital debris impacts in filament-wound composites depends on the following parameters: impactor energy, pre-loading, and the degree of interweaving of filament bands. This paper also introduces a meso-scale simulation approach suitable for numerical modeling of the studied phenomena. Findings of the study may be useful for the design of spacecraft components fabricated by filament winding, for example, composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs) and composite truss tubes.