Simulation of foam-impact effects on the space shuttle thermal protection system

A series of three-dimensional simulations has been performed to investigate analytically the effect of insulating foam impacts on ceramic tile and reinforced carbon-carbon components of the space shuttle thermal protection system. The simulations employed a hybrid particle finite element method and a parallel code developed for use in spacecraft design applications. The conclusions suggested by the numerical study are in general consistent with experiment. The results emphasize the need for additional material testing work on the dynamic mechanical response of thermal-protection-system materials and additional impact experiments for use in validating computational models of impact effects.