Hydrodynamic Ram Effect Caused by Debris Hypervelocity Impact on Satellite Tank

Featured Application Numerical simulation of the debris impacting the satellite tank at the velocity of 7000 m/s was carried out based on ANSYS/LS-DYNA software. The structural damage to the satellite tank caused by the hydrodynamic ram effect was analyzed, the influence of the angular velocity of debris on the hydrodynamic ram effect was studied. The conclusions are of great significance for the risk assessment of the satellite. Abstract To study the hydrodynamic ram effect caused by the debris hypervelocity impact on the satellite tank, a numerical simulation of the spherical debris impacting the satellite tank at the velocity of 7000 m/s was carried out based on ANSYS/LS-DYNA software. The attenuation law of debris velocity, the propagation process of the shock wave and the deformation of the tank walls were investigated. The influences of the liquid-filling ratio, the magnitude, and direction of angular velocity on the hydrodynamic ram effect were analyzed. Results show that the debris velocity decreased rapidly and the residual velocity was 263 m/s when the debris passed through the tank. The shock wave was hemispherical, and the pressure of shock wave was the smallest at the element with an angle of 90 degrees to the impact line. The maximum diameter of the front perforation was larger than that of the back perforation and the bulge height on the front wall was smaller than that on the back wall. With the decrease of the liquid-filling ratio, the diameter of the perforations and bulge height decreased. When the debris impacted the satellite tank with the angular velocity in the x direction, the debris trajectory did not deflect. When the debris impacted the satellite tank with the angular velocities in the y and z direction, the debris trajectory deflected to the negative direction of the z axis and y axis, respectively. The magnitude of the angular velocity affects the residual velocity of debris and the diameter of perforations.