Unlocking the Physics of Hypervelocity Impact

Satellites and spacecraft in orbit can impact micrometeorites and other debris at velocities exceeding thousands of meters per second. The shock pressures and temperatures created by these hypervelocity impacts greatly surpass standard material strengths, and deform structures in unconventional failure modes. Under these extreme conditions and strain rates, plastic deformation of a solid can resemble viscous fluidic motion. Using meshless finite element analysis methods, the present research attempts to quantify this fluidic structural response and identify analogous interactions in fluid dynamics.