The effect of mass collapse under hypervelocity impact of solid paraboloid into a thin screen

In this article, an impact of a solid-paraboloid at a speed of 4190 m/s into a thin aluminum plate is numerically simulated. Such high-speed impacts are dangerous as they can damage the second screen of the Whipple shield. Whipple shield, so-called dual-wall system, is widely used to protect spacecraft from space debris. This paper reviews the mechanism of the interaction between the projectile and bumper, the movement and diffusion of the debris cloud. Numerical simulation for high-speed impact of a hyperboloid on an aluminum alloy plate is presented. Central and non-central impacts are discussed. It is shown that some types of collisions are very dangerous because significant mass of fragments is concentrated on the impact axis. The same calculations were conducted for the sphere of comparable mass, results were compared.