HYPERVELOCITY IMPACTS TEST ON MULTI-LAYER 3D-PRINTED SHIELDS

Additive manufacturing is recently finding application in the satellites industry, allowing solutions whose implementation could have been difficult or expensive using traditional productive techniques. In the framework of the EU H2020 ReDSHIFT project, new 3D printed shields were developed for microsatellites protection: (1) a multi-shock panel comprising four equally-spaced 3D printed bumper layers, (2) a two-walls panel with outer bumper layers sandwiching a corrugated core, and (3) a hybrid panel with three equally-spaced bumpers, and a fourth corrugated bumper sandwiched between two of them. These shields were evaluated with respect to their resistance to hypervelocity impacts of mm-size debris. This paper presents the results of hypervelocity impact carried out at the University of Padova on the proposed panels: debris-shielding properties were evaluated with respect to the damage on targets and witness plates placed behind them. Debris clouds resulting from panels perforation were also observed qualitatively through high-speed imaging.