Cratering and Penetration Experiments in Teflon Targets at Velocities from 1 to 7 Km/s

Download or read book Cratering and Penetration Experiments in Teflon Targets at Velocities from 1 to 7 Km/s written by Friedrich Hörz and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Approximately 20 sq m of protective thermal blankets, largely composed of Teflon, were retrieved from the Long Duration Exposure Facility after the spacecraft spent approximately 5.7 years in space. Examination of these blankets revealed that they contained thousands of hypervelocity impact features ranging from micron-sized craters to penetration holes several millimeters in diameter. We conducted impact experiments to reproduce such features and to understand the relationships between projectile size and the resulting crater or penetration hole diameter over a wide range of impact velocities. Such relationships are needed to derive the size and mass frequency distribution and flux of natural and man-made particles in low-earth orbit. Powder propellant and light-gas guns were used to launch soda-lime glass spheres into pure Teflon targets at velocities ranging from 1 to 7 km/s.