Numerical simulation of the group hypervelocity elements impact on a spacecraft

The presence of a large number of manmade fragments of various sizes and shapes in the near-Earth space due to destruction of satellites and launch vehicles is a serious threat to the safe functioning of automatic and manned space vehicles. At present, protection of spacecrafts from man-made fragments is a highly relevant task for the successful development of modern astronautics. To solve it, it is necessary to research the process of interaction between hypervelocity projectiles and protected objects. Numerical simulation of the hypervelocity interaction between solids and protective systems allows one to reproduce the characteristic features of physical processes occurring in the collision, to consider and select the optimum scheme of protective shields. Involving present-day computers and numerical methods made it possible to solve problems of hypervelocity collision in a three-dimensional formulation with allowance for fragmentation of projectiles and shock protection elements of the spacecraft. Taking into account fragmentation and interaction of fragments between each other and the space vehicle body allows us to give a more complete picture of processes occurring upon the hypervelocity interaction between elements of space debris and the shell of a space object. In this paper, we consider the interaction of a group of elongated projectiles with the flat shape nose with a system of spaced plates.