With the growing threat of orbital debris impacts to space structures, the development of space shielding concepts has been a critical research topic. In this study, numerical simulations of the hypervelocity impact response of stacked aluminum 6061-T6 sheets were performed to assess the effects of layering on penetration resistance. This work was initially motivated by set of experimental tests where a stack of four aluminum sheets of equal thickness was observed to have a higher hypervelocity ballistic resistance than a monolithic aluminum sheet with the same total thickness. A set of smoothed particle hydrodynamic simulations predicted a 40% increase in the ballistic limit for a 6-layer target compared to a monolithic sheet. In addition, the effect of variable sheet thickness and sheet ordering on the impact resistance was investigated, while still maintaining a constant overall thickness. A set of thin layers in front of a thick layer generally lead to a higher predicted ballistic limit than the inverse configuration. This work demonstrates an increase in the performance of advanced space shielding structures associated with multi-layering. This suggests that it may be possible to dramatically improve the performance of such structures by tailoring the material properties, interfaces, and layering concepts.

L’étude des impacts hypervéloces (IHV) est essentielle dans de nombreux domaines tels que l’aérospatial, la cosmologie ou l’armement. Pour les reproduire en laboratoire, il est usuel d’utiliser des lanceurs à gaz ou à poudre. Toutefois, ce type de moyen se limite à des vitesses d’impact de l’ordre de 10 km/s pour des projectiles millimétriques. Afin d’étudier des vitesses plus élevées, il faut se tourner vers des moyens alternatifs. Dans cette étude, nous démontrons qu’une analogie est possible entre irradiations laser et IHV. Pour parvenir à ce résultat, des données expérimentales ont été obtenues sur le lanceur HERMES et sur l’installation laser GCLT. Deux matériaux cibles ont été considérés : l’aluminium 6061-T6 et l’EDM3, un graphite poreux. Par simulation numérique, nous avons caractérisé spatialement et temporellement les champs de pression générés en surface des cibles par un projectile et par un laser. Cela nous a permis de proposer et de valider une procédure permettant de lier IHV et essais laser. Pour finir, une campagne expérimentale été réalisée sur l’installation laser du LULI2000 afin d’étudier des vitesses d’impact pouvant atteindre 32 km/s. / The study of hypervelocity impacts (HVI) is essential in many fields such as aerospace, cosmology or defense. To reproduce them in laboratory, it is usual to use gas or powder launchers. However, this type of facility is limited to impact velocities under 10 km/s for projectiles of millimeter size. In order to study higher velocities, it is necessary to consider alternative means. In this study, we demonstrate that an analogy is possible between laser irradiations and HVI. To do this, experimental data were obtained on the HERMES launcher and the GCLT laser facility. Two target materials were considered: 6061-T6 aluminum and EDM3, a porous graphite. By numerical simulation, we spatially and temporally characterized the pressure fields generated on the surface of the targets by a projectile and a laser. It allowed us to propose and validate a procedure to link HVI and laser shots. Finally, an experimental campaign was carried out on the LULI2000 laser facility to study impact velocities up to 32 km/s.

Les matériaux composites sont très utilisés dans diverses applications et sont parfoissoumis à des impacts hypervéloces (IHV), notamment dans le domaine spatial. La taille des impacteursétant proche de celle des torons de fibres, les simulations mésoscopiques ont tout leurintérêt mais nécessitent des modèles numériques aboutis pour chaque sous-Constituant. Le graphiteétant souvent utilisé comme matrice ou fibres, nous avons étudié son comportement dynamique.Ainsi, des expériences de pénétration et de cratérisation ont été menées sur un isographite poreux.L’analyse post-Mortem des cibles, associée à des calculs d’ordre de grandeur, apporte un éclairagenouveau sur la phénoménologie des impacts et fournit des renseignements utiles à la simulationnumérique. Un modèle pour matériaux poreux et fragiles, implémenté dans un code de dynamiquerapide, est utilisé. Basé en partie sur des propriétés statiques, il a été progressivement testé sur deschocs plans. Son utilisation pour la simulation des IHV donne de bons résultats. Toutefois, il convenaitde le valider en s’affranchissant du comportement du projectile. Pour cela, une campagne dechocs lasers a été menée. Des diagnostics in-Situ ont été utilisés et leur corrélation avec des analysespost-Mortem a permis l’identification de différents modes d’endommagement des cibles. Finalement,bien que l’équivalence entre IHV et chocs lasers ne soit pas démontrée, ces derniers se sont montréscomplémentaires en suggérant de futures évolutions du modèle numérique. / Composite materials are widely used in various applications and may be submittedto hypervelocity impacts (HVI), such as in the aerospace field. The size of the impactors beingclose to that of a strand of fibers, mesoscopic simulations are of great interest but they need reliablenumerical models for each meso-Constituent. Graphite often being used as fiber or matrix,we studied its dynamic behavior. Penetration and craterization experiments have been conductedonto porous isotropic graphite. Post-Mortem analysis of targets, associated to order-Of-Magnitudecalculations, sheds a new light on the phenomenology of impacts and brings useful informationfor numerical simulation. A model for porous and brittle materials, implemented into a hydrocode,is used. Partially based on static mechanical properties, it has been progressively tested on planeshocks. Its use for simulating HVI gives satisfying results. Nevertheless, it was necessary to validateit by disregarding the projectile behavior. In that purpose, a campaign of laser-Driven shocks hasbeen conducted. In-Situ diagnostics have been simultaneously used and their correlation with postmortemanalysis allowed the identification of different damaging regimes of the targets. Finally,although the equivalence between HVI and laser-Driven shocks is not proved, the latter turned outto be complementary, suggesting the future evolutions of the numerical model.

<p>While hypervelocity impacts are ubiquitous throughout the solar system and have received decades  of  research,  the dynamic  fragmentation that  occurs  during an impact has received relatively little attention. This is made more troublesome by the fact that, by volume, more material in the target is altered by the tensile stresses of the rarefaction wave that relieves the pressure of the shock wave, compared to the amount excavated by the impact itself. This tensionally affected material  can  include  Grady-Kippfragments,  fragments  of  material  that  were  broken  apart according to a dynamic fragmentation model developed by Grady and Kipp in 1980. By using their model and inserting it into the Eulerian hydrocode iSALE, we have been able to examine the role tensile stressesand dynamic fragmentation play in hypervelocity impacts. We started by finding the limits on Grady-Kipp fragmentation on an already well studied surface, the Moon. We found that fragment sizes are weakly dependent on impactor size and impact velocity. For impactors 1 km in diameter or smaller, a hemispherical zone centered on the point of impact contains meter‐scale fragments. For an impactor 1 km in diameter this zone extends to depths of 20 km. At larger impactor  sizes,  overburden  pressure  inhibits  fragmentation  and  only  a  near‐surface  zone  is fragmented. For a 10‐km‐diameter impactor, this surface zone extends to a depthof ~20 km and lateral distances ~300 km from the point of impact. This suggests that impactors from 1 to 10 km in diameter can efficiently fragment the entire lunar crust to depths of ~20 km, implying that much of the modern day megaregolith can be created by single impacts rather than by multiple large impact events.</p> <p>With the extent of in-situ fragmentation examined we turned ourattention to getting our dynamic fragmentation code to run smoothly with iSALE’s PorTens. PorTens is a change made to iSALE to allow for pore space creation in material undergoing tensile stresses and pressures in order to keep thermodynamic consistency. Importantly, wefound that when the two routines are combined, porosity increases substantially, and that the large basins currently observed on the Moon’s surface are likely most responsible for the high porosity detected by the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission. Additionally, we discovered that deep lying porosity seems to be additive, suggesting that even without the influence of the largest impactors it is possible for porosity to increase over time. The final, and possibly most consequential conclusion from this work is the ability of tensile stresses and pressures can create potential sitesof refugia for early life that may have existed on early Earth or possibly Mars.</p> <p>Our final dive into hypervelocity impacts focuses on modeling fragments of ejecta. To study this, we have restructured the original fragmentation code substantially. Because most of the damage occurring in the ejecta is done in shear, our previously used Grady-Kipp implementation is not able to provide any useful data, without first making some necessary changes. Much of shear stresses occurring during the passage of a shockwave is accommodated by ductile deformation. Thus, we allow tensile damage to accumulate independently of any calculated shear damage. This simple assumption allows us to track fragment size within ejecta curtains.We then present the results of fragment size vs velocity for different sized impactors.</p> <p><br></p>