On the effect of considering more realistic particle shape and mass parameters in MMOD risk assessments

One of the primary mission risks tracked in the development of all spacecraft is that due to micro-meteoroids and orbital debris (MMOD). Both types of particles, especially those larger than 0.1 mm in diameter, contain sufficient kinetic energy due to their combined mass and velocities to cause serious damage to crew members and spacecraft. The process used to assess MMOD risk consists of three elements: environment, damage prediction, and damage tolerance. Orbital debris risk assessments for the Orion vehicle, as well as the Shuttle, Space Station and other satellites use ballistic limit equations (BLEs) that have been developed using high speed impact test data and results from numerical simulations that have used spherical projectiles. However, spheres are not expected to be a common shape for orbital debris; rather, orbital debris fragments might be better represented by other regular or irregular solids. In this paper we examine the general construction of NASA’s current orbital debris (OD) model, explore the potential variations in orbital debris mass and shape that are possible when using particle characteristic length to define particle size (instead of assuming spherical particles), and, considering specifically the Orion vehicle, perform an orbital debris risk sensitivity study taking into account variations in particle mass and shape as noted above. While the results of the work performed for this study are preliminary, they do show that continuing to use aluminum spheres in spacecraft risk assessments could result in an over-design of its MMOD protection systems. In such a case, the spacecraft could be heavier than needed, could cost more than needed, and could cost more to put into orbit than needed. The results obtained in this study also show the need to incorporate effects of mass and shape in mission risk assessment prior to first flight of any spacecraft as well as the need to continue to develop/refine BLEs so that they more accurately reflect the shape and material density variations inherent to the actual debris environment.     

Analysis of space debris impact source localization based on PVDF piezoelectric film

As the pace of human exploration and utilization of space continues to accelerate, space debris gradually becomes an inevitable problem affecting and threatening human space activities. When space debris strikes the spacecraft bulkhead, determining the impact source location timely and accurately is the foundation of the repair damage, and is also of great importance for the safety of astronauts' life. This paper analyzed the wave propagation law in thin plates, established a lightweight sensor array using PVDF (Polyvinylidene fluoride) circular thin-film sensors, and used a two-stage light-gas gun loading system to conduct hypervelocity collision localization experiments on impacting 2A12 aluminum plates to study the effects of sensor array radius and sensor size on localization results. The results show that the smaller the radius of the PVDF sensor array is, the more accurate the positioning result is under the premise of the same size of the PVDF circular film sensor array. On the premise of the same PVDF sensor array arrangement, the larger the PVDF circular membrane sensor is, the more accurate the positioning result is. ABAQUS finite element software is used to study the stress wave propagation of aluminum ball impacting aluminum plate at high speed, simulating space debris impacting spacecraft. The stress waveform obtained from the simulation is in good agreement with the experiment, which shows the accuracy of the numerical simulation method.     

基于电学成像的蜂窝夹层结构超高速撞击损伤监测

针对航天器遭受空间碎片和微流星体撞击的问题,对蜂窝夹层结构的超高速撞击损伤监测进行研究。提出将碳纳米管薄膜共固化在蜂窝夹层结构面板表面使之具有自感应能力,结合电学成像技术对超高速撞击造成的损伤进行监测和识别。采用二级轻气炮对自感应蜂窝夹层结构进行了超高速撞击,在撞击前后分别向感应层注入微小的激励电流,根据边界电压变化重建损伤引起的电导率变化图像,从而提供有关撞击和损伤的信息。试验结果表明,基于碳纳米管薄膜的感应层性能良好,重建的电导率变化图像能够较好地反映损伤个数、位置和近似尺寸,验证了所提出技术方法的有效性,为航天器结构超高速撞击监测提供了一种新的技术手段。     

梁结构线弹性碰撞的解析解

把结构弹性碰撞问题可以看成是碰撞结构集成系统振动初值问题,本文根据这一对策,得到了质点、杆分别与简支梁横向碰撞问题之解析解.借助数值分析方法详细探讨上述两种碰撞问题的动态响应特性,分析了冲击载荷的收敛性.用弹簧模拟接触变形,分析了接触变形对收敛性和碰撞响应的影响.     

弹丸撞击防护屏形成碎片云速度特性研究

微流星及空间碎片的高速撞击威胁着长寿命，大尺寸航天器的安全运行，导致其严重的损伤和灾难性的失效，为精确估计微流星及空间碎片主速撞击防护屏产生的碎片对舱壁的损伤，必须确定碎片云速度特性。文章在冲量和能量守恒的基础上，建立了碎片速度性分析模型，研究了碎片云的速度特性，得到了碎片云材料传播及碎片云喷射角随弹丸撞击速度的变化规律。     

柱状弹丸撞击防护屏形成碎片云材料状态特性研究

微流星体及空间碎片的高速撞击威胁着长寿命、大尺寸航天器的安全运行，导致其严重的损伤和灾难性的失效。为精确估计微流星体及空间碎片高速撞击防护屏所产生碎片云对舱壁的损伤，必须确定碎片云中三种状态材料的特性，建立了碎片云特性分析模型，分别计算了柱状弹丸撞击防护屏所产生碎片云以及碎片云中弹丸和防护屏材料三种状态物质的质量分布。通过计算分析可见，弹丸以不同速度撞击防护屏所产生碎片云三种状态物质的质量分布是不同的，速度增大，液化和气化增强，对靶件的损伤小。而在速度小于7km/s时，碎片云以固体碎片的形式存在，对靶件的损伤大。     

Application of hydrocode modelling to the study of hypervelocity impact crater morphology

In order to obtain a better understanding and model of the natural and artificial particulate environment from measurements of impact damage features on returned spacecraft materials, it is necessary to be able to determine how the size and shape of an impact feature are related to the parameters of the impacting particle. The AUTODYN-3D hydrocode has been used to study the effects of projectile density, velocity and impact angle on the depth, diameter and ellipticity of the impact craters. The results are used to determine the distributions of crater depth to crater diameter ratios and of crater ellipticities to be expected on an aluminium surface exposed to an isotropic distribution of incident particles of given densities and velocities. Comparison of these calculated distributions with those observed for craters on aluminium clamps on various faces of the Long Duration Exposure Facility shows that particles with a wide range of densities, including significant proportions both greater and smaller than that of aluminium, were responsible for these craters.     

The future role of relay satellites for orbital telerobotics

Orbital robotics focuses on a variety of applications, as e.g. inspection and repair activities, spacecraft construction or orbit corrections. On-Orbit Servicing (OOS) activities have to be closely monitored by operators on ground. A direct contact to the spacecraft in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is limiting the operational time of the robotic application. Therefore, geostationary satellites are desirable to relay the OOS signals and extend the servicing time window. A geostationary satellite in the communication chain not only introduces additional boundary conditions to the mission but also increases the time delay in the system. The latter is not very critical if the servicer satellite is operating autonomously. However, if the servicer is operating in a supervised control regime with a human in the loop, the increased time delay will have an impact on the operator’s task performance.     

Micro-particle impact flux on the timeband capture cell experiment of the Eureca spacecraft

Measurements of hypervelocity impact fluxes (in both thick and thin targets) detected by the University of Kent at Canterbury's Timeband Capture Cell Experiment (TiCCE) (flown on ESA's Eureca spacecraft) are presented. The foil perforations are used to derive the ballistic limit values, or the maximum thickness of A1 perforated, for the impacting particles. This data is then combined with the thick target data to derive a unified ballistic limit flux. A significant enhancement in the observed large particle flux compared with LDEF is found, possibly due to the pointing history of Eureca compared to the Earth's orbital direction. Comparisons are also made to predictions from ESABASE modelling. Preliminary results of a study of perforation morphology are also presented, providing insight into particle shape, density and directionality.     

A ballistic limit equation for hypervelocity impacts on composite honeycomb sandwich panel satellite structures

During a recent experimental test campaign performed in the framework of ESA Contract 16721, the ballistic performance of multiple satellite-representative Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic (CFRP)/Aluminium honeycomb sandwich panel structural configurations (GOCE, Radarsat-2, Herschel/Planck, BeppoSax) was investigated using the two-stage light-gas guns at EMI. The experimental results were used to develop and validate a new empirical Ballistic Limit Equation (BLE), which was derived from an existing Whipple-shield BLE. This new BLE provided a good level of accuracy in predicting the ballistic performance of stand-alone sandwich panel structures. Additionally, the equation is capable of predicting the ballistic limit of a thin Al plate located at a standoff behind the sandwich panel structure. This thin plate is the representative of internal satellite systems, e.g. an Al electronic box cover, a wall of a metallic vessel, etc. Good agreement was achieved with both the experimental test campaign results and additional test data from the literature for the vast majority of set-ups investigated. For some experiments, the ballistic limit was conservatively predicted, a result attributed to shortcomings in correctly accounting for the presence of high surface density multi-layer insulation on the outer facesheet. Four existing BLEs commonly applied for application with stand-alone sandwich panels were reviewed using the new impact test data. It was found that a number of these common approaches provided non-conservative predictions for sandwich panels with CFRP facesheets.     

高速撞击梯度电势靶板产生等离子体诱发的放电

针对在轨运行航天器在空间等离子体环境和空间带电粒子活动下诱发航天器表面梯度电势存在的客观现实,航天器在空间碎片的撞击下会诱发表面带电或深层电介质带电的航天器放电。为了在实验室模拟航天器表面存在电势差的真实情况,采用对航天器外表面分割的方法,在分割的表面间预留不同间距且在2靶板间加装电阻的方法创造具有梯度电势的高电势2A12铝板作为靶板。利用自行构建的梯度电势靶板的充放电测试系统、超高速相机采集系统和二级轻气炮加载系统,开展高速撞击梯度电势2A12铝靶的实验室实验。实验中,弹丸以入射角度为60°（弹道与靶板平面的夹角）、撞击速度约为3 km/s的条件撞击间距分别为2、3、4和5 mm的2A12铝高电势靶板,利用电流探针和电压探针采集放电电流和放电电压。实验结果表明:放电产生的等离子体形成了高电势与低电势靶板间的放电通道,且在梯度电势靶板间距分别为2、3 mm时诱发了一次放电,放电电流随高低电势靶板间间距的增加而减小;在梯度电势靶板间距分别为4、5 mm时诱发了二次放电,放电电流随高低电势靶板间间距的增加变化不明显。      

超高速撞击航天器二次碎片云能量特性分析

为了评估空间碎片超高速撞击航天器的碎片云破坏能力,挖掘超高速撞击数值模 拟结果数据的应用价值,基于9.53 mm铝球以6.64 km/s速度对2.2 mm铝靶撞 击的Ls-Dyna/SPH(Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamic)数值模拟研究结果,对靶后碎片云的 粒子动能进行求和统计,建立了碎片云比动能概念和函数形式;碎片云比动能综合考虑了靶 后所有碎片云粒子的动能,反映了一定距离处垂直于撞击方向平面上单位面积上的碎片云粒 子所蕴含的撞击能量;应用碎片云比动能概念,揭示出随着演化距离的增加,碎片云能量的 衰减规律;通过不同速度条件下的SPH计算,得到了碎片云的比动能函数的曲线形式随撞击 速度的变化规律;最后对采用2种材料模型进行数值模拟所对应的结果误差进行碎片云比动 能函数的曲线比较,反映出数值模拟中不同材料模型引起的差异.      

Micro-meteoroids and space debris impact risk assessment for the ConeXpress satellite using ESABASE2/Debris

Micro-meteoroid and space debris impact risk assessments are performed to investigate the risk from hypervelocity impacts to sensitive spacecraft sub-systems. For these analyses, ESA’s impact risk assessment tool ESABASE2/Debris is used. This software tool combines micro-particle environment models, damage equations for different shielding designs and satellite geometry models to perform a detailed 3D micro-particle impact risk assessment. This paper concentrates on the impact risk for exposed pressurized tanks. Pressure vessels are especially susceptible to hypervelocity impacts when no protection is available from the satellite itself. Even small particles in the mm size range can lead to a fatal burst or rupture of a tank when impacting with a typical collision velocity of 10–20 km/s. For any space mission it has to be assured that the impact risk is properly considered and kept within acceptable limits. The ConeXpress satellite mission is analysed as example. ConeXpress is a planned service spacecraft, intended to extend the lifetime of telecommunication spacecraft in the geostationary orbit. The unprotected tanks of ConeXpress are identified as having a high failure risk from hypervelocity impacts, mainly caused by micro-meteoroids. Options are studied to enhance the impact protection. It is demonstrated that even a thin additional protective layer spaced several cm from the tank would act as part of a double wall (Whipple) shield and greatly reduce the impact risk. In case of ConeXpress with 12 years mission duration the risk of impact related failure of a tank can be reduced from almost 39% for an unprotected tank facing in flight direction to below 0.1% for a tank protected by a properly designed Whipple shield.     

Sun earth connection coronal and heliospheric investigation (SECCHI)

The Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation (SECCHI) on the NASA Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) mission is a suite of remote sensing instruments consisting of an extreme ultraviolet imager, two white light coronagraphs, and a heliospheric imager. Two spacecraft with identical instrumentation will obtain simultaneous observations from viewpoints of increasing separation in the ecliptic plane. In support of the STEREO mission objectives, SECCHI will observe coronal mass ejections from their birth at the Sun, through the outer corona, to their impact at Earth. The SECCHI program includes a coordinated effort to develope magneto-hydrodynamic models and visualization tools to interpret the images that will be obtained from the two spacecraft viewpoints. The resulting three-dimensional analysis of CMEs will help to resolve some of the fundamental outstanding questions in solar physics.     

卫星高压气瓶的超高速撞击试验

微流星体及空间碎片超高速撞击对在轨航天器构成了严重威胁,星上压力容器受空间碎片撞击后所产生的威胁是十分严重的,可能导致航天器发生灾难性失效,过早结束其使命。文章通过星上常用气瓶的超高速撞击试验,获取了不同弹丸撞击参数下气瓶器壁的通孔孔径,得到了在弹丸撞击速度为(6.5±0.3)km/s、无防护情况下气瓶器壁的弹道极限,并分析了导致充压气瓶灾难性失效的弹丸直径范围;通过对试验数据拟合,初步建立了弹丸正撞击速度为(6.5±0.3)km/s、无防护情况下气瓶器壁的通孔孔径预测公式,为航天器遭遇空间碎片撞击的风险评估及防护措施制定提供依据。     

The Giotto mission to Halley''s comet

ESA's Giotto mission to Halley's comet is a fast flyby in March 1986, about four weeks after the comet's perihelion passage when it is most active. The scientific payload comprises 10 experiments with a total mass of about 60 kg: a camera for imaging the comet nucleus, three mass spectrometers for analysis of the elemental and isotopic composition of the cometary gas and dust environment, various dust impact detectors, a photopolarimeter for measurements of the coma brightness, and a set of plasma instruments for studies of the solar wind/comet interaction. In view of the high flyby velocity of 68 km/s the experiment active time is very short (only 4 hours) and all data are transmitted back to Earth in real time at a rate of 40 kbps. The Giotto spacecraft is spin-stabilised with a despun high gain parabolic dish antenna inclined at 44.3° to point at the Earth during the encounter while a specially designed dual-sheet bumper shield at the other end protects the spacecraft from being destroyed by hypervelocity dust impacts. The mission will probably end near the point of closest approach to the nucleus when the spacecraft attitude will be severely perturbed by impacting dust particles leading to a loss of the telecommunications link.     

挠性航天器多目标鲁棒姿态控制的DPSO算法实现

复杂航天器高性能姿态控制是完成现代新型空间任务的基础，需兼顾鲁棒性、快速性、精度和控制能量等多目标要求，但目前大多数控制系统只针对某单一目标设计。针对大型挠性航天器多目标姿态控制问题，提出一种基于差分粒子群优化算法和输出反馈的鲁棒控制方法。首先，推导了含参数不确定性的系统动力学模型；然后，给出了差分粒子群优化算法的定义和鲁棒D-稳定的线性矩阵不等式（LMI）表达；最后，在区域极点约束和Pareto最优原则下，利用所提算法对干扰抑制和控制能量指标进行了优化，得到反馈增益矩阵。该方法满足了系统多目标约束要求，且具有一定的振动抑制作用；可避免传统带极点配置的LMI方法在解决多目标问题时的保守性，也解决了将多目标转化为一个指标函数时加权系数的选择困难。数学仿真验证了该方法的有效性，相比于传统PID控制，干扰下姿态稳态误差可减小约54%。     

基于离散粒子群算法的多飞行器在轨服务任务分配

为解决多约束条件下飞行器在轨服务任务分配问题,以在轨卫星群为研究对象,提出了一种基于离散粒子群算法的多服务飞行器的目标分配方法,综合分析目标飞行器价值、服务飞行器消耗以及能量时间消耗等3项关键指标因素,建立了在轨服务任务分配问题的数学模型。通过构建粒子与实际问题间的对应关系,设计了新的离散粒子群位置和速度更新公式求解任务分配问题。仿真结果表明:离散粒子群算法具有收敛速度快,寻优能力强等优点,能够有效地解决多约束条件下的服务飞行器协同任务分配问题。