Impact resistance characteristics of C/SiC plate under hypervelocity load

The impact resistance of thermal protective system is an important determinant for the safety service of space airplane in orbit. Based on impact experiments, a debris cloud structure model of plain-woven C/SiC composite under impact load was proposed and analysed qualitatively, in which the special axial columnar high energy zone of C/SiC debris cloud was emphasized. Based on the Autodyn orthotropic composite model, the material parameters were derived, whose rationality was verified by the comparison of numerical results with the experimental results. The residual velocity of projectile, the axial average velocity and the distributed angle of debris cloud were selected as the main characteristic parameters according to the debris cloud characteristics of C/SiC composite. Taking Al spherical projectile as the impacting object, the impact resistance of a C/SiC plate was analysed and assessed under various conditions.