Research on adaptive penetration characteristics of space harpoon based on aluminum honeycomb buffer

Abstract

To address the issues of high impact and limited adaptability in capturing space debris with space harpoons, a novel harpoon capture device based on aluminum honeycomb buffering was proposed. The issue of excessive impact force for harpoons could be effectively addressed by the excellent energy-absorbing characteristics of aluminum honeycomb. A simulation model was established to analyze the penetration of space harpoons into aluminum alloy target plates using Johnson-Cook’s dynamic constitutive model and fracture failure criteria. Ground experiments were conducted to validate the correctness of the simulation model. The impact of aluminum honeycomb was investigated by analyzing the simulation results of harpoons with and without aluminum honeycomb. With the introduction of aluminum honeycomb as a buffering component, the rebound velocity of the harpoon decreased by 76.2 %, and the impact force reduced by 78.6 %. Then the model was used to study the influence of different launching angles and different targets on the penetration characteristics of the space harpoon. The research findings indicate that space harpoons could successfully penetrate and capture aluminum alloy targets at a launch velocity of 53.1 m/s to 58.5 m/s, as determined through ground experiments and simulation analysis. The error in the crushing height of the aluminum honeycomb was found to be 2.19 %, while the error in the harpoon penetration depth was 9.02 %. Moreover, within a launch angle error of 10°, space harpoons also demonstrate the capability for adaptive capture of both aluminum alloy plates and aluminum honeycomb sandwich panels, with average correction capabilities of 92.5 % and 95.5 %. In conclusion, the analysis of the adaptive penetration characteristics of space harpoons provides a solid theoretical foundation and technical support for the design of harpoon capture systems.