Hypervelocity impact tests on coated thermoplastic films at cryogenic and elevated temperatures

The hypervelocity impact facility at Space Research Institute (SRI), Auburn University has recently completed a series of tests on coated thermoplastic films at cryogenic (40 K) and elevated temperatures (420 K). With a 1-in gap, two films were mounted in a frame that applied biaxial tension to each film. The materials were impacted with 40–100 μm soda lime spheres utilizing a plasma drag gun to accelerate the particles to velocities between 5 and 12 km/s. The facility diagnostics allow for the determination each particle's, size, velocity and impact location along with micrographs of the nature of the impact damage. This summary of the test includes a general overview of the nature of damage on the films along with representative impact micrographs of the impact sites.