Scaling Impact Crater Dimensions to Predict Micrometeorite Damage of Biopolymer-Stabilized Regolith

Long-term habitation outside of Earth's atmosphere requires infrastructure that can protect astronauts and equipment from significant environmental hazards. In turn, the materials used to build these protective structures must be durable enough to withstand the environment over time. One notable hazard of the space environment is micrometeorite impacts. This research examines the effects of micrometeorite impacts on regolith biocomposite (RBC), a proposed material technology that transforms in situ materials, such as planetary or lunar regolith, into useful structural elements such as stable landing pads, pavements that prevent dust levitation, radiation shielding, and habitats. To characterize the relationship between the intensity of a hypervelocity impact and the incurred damage of RBC, a total of nine hypervelocity impact experiments were conducted. Resulting craters in the test materials were measured and transient crater dimensions were calculated. Analytical power-law relationships between impact velocity and transient crater diameter and volume were derived using Holsapple's pi-group strength scaling laws.