Shielding performances of the designed hybrid laminates impacted by hypervelocity flyer

With increasing threat of man-made debris in outer space, a shielding panel designed for spacecraft or satellite should withstand hypervelocity impact of debris, with speed up to 9.0 km/s. In this study, shielding performances of 2024 aluminum alloy panel, carbon fiber reinforced polymer composite (CFRP) panel and their hybrid laminates with different stacking configurations were investigated by ballistic tests of the materials impacted by Mylar flyer at 9.0 km/s. The results are supposed to guide the design of shielding laminate panel. It was found that the stacking combination of CFRP and aluminum alloy significantly reduced the peak shock pressure induced by hypervelocity impact, and the increase of the layer number enhanced the shielding performance of the hybrid laminate. The five-layered aluminum alloy/CFRP laminates resisted the impact of the flyer without perforation. Furthermore, the extent of the damage of an impacted laminate was related to the velocity profile on its free surface. The planar plate impact testing employing a Doppler laser velocity interferometer is a feasible approach to quantitatively evaluate the shielding performance of structural material.