Simulation of Orbital Debris Impact on Porous Ceramic Tiles

Abstract

Ceramic tiles provide lightweight, reusable insulation for spacecraft thermal protection systems but are vulnerable to orbital debris impact damage. Because a wide range of impact conditions that may be experienced in orbit cannot be duplicated in the laboratory, design for orbital debris impact effects must include analytical or numerical modeling. Recent research has developed and validated a new computational approach to the simulation of orbital debris impact on porous ceramic thermal protection systems. Simulations using the validated formulation suggest scaling rules for application in spacecraft design.