Abstract:
Spall caused by hypervelocity impacts at the lower range of velocities could
result in significant damage to spacecraft. A number of polycrystalline alloys,
used in spacecraft manufacturing, exhibit a pronounced anisotropy in their
mechanical properties. The aluminium alloy AA 7010, whose orthotropy is a
consequence of the meso-scale phase distribution or grain morphology, has been
chosen for this investigation. The material failure observed in plate impact was
simulated using an explicit finite element code and a smoothed particle
hydrodynamics (SPH) code. A number of spall models where used, and the Hugoniot
Elastic Limit (HEL) and spall strength have been studied as a function of
orientation, and compared to experimental results.
