STUDY ON HYPERVELOCITY IMPACT OF SRM SLAG WITH VOIDS

Solid rocket motors are mainly used for launching small satellites because they have a small number of parts, simple structures, and high responsiveness. However, there are concerns about solid rocket motors, which release solid rocket motor slag (SRM slag). The SRM slag is derived from aluminum powder in a solid matrix and released as agglomerated alumina into outer space before and after the solid rocket motor is cutoff. It has been confirmed that voids inside themselves in combustion tests in a vacuum conducted by JAXA. In this paper focusing on SRM slag with voids, we simulated its impact with diameters ranging from 1 mm to 10 mm, with porosities ranging from 0 % to 80 %, and with impact velocities of 2-15 km/s towards enough thick targets. We investigated the potential danger of SRM slag with voids using AUTODYN-2D. In addition, we calculated the ballistic limit curve (BLC) for each porosity of SRM slag based on the penetration depths obtained by the numerical simulations and compared BLCs in SRM slag and space debris made of aluminum alloy.