INCORPORATION OF CERAMICS IN ADVANCED SHIELD SYSTEMS

THE PROTECTIVE SHIELDS AGAINST HYPERVELOCITY IMPACT TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE PROPOSED RESEARCH EFFORT ARE SYSTEMS WHICH INCORPORATE A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT MATERIAL TYPES AND GEOMETRICAL LAYOUTS. THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF THE STUDY IS TO EXPLORE THE JUDICIOUS USE OF STRUCTURAL CERAMICS AS ONE OR MORE COMPONENTS OF SUCH A SHIELD SYSTEM. FOR THIS PURPOSE, SEVERAL PROMISING SHIELD SYSTEM DESIGNS WHICH INCLUDE CERAMICS WILL BE CONSIDERED UNDER THE PHASE I STUDY. EACH DESIGN WILL BE MODELED NUMERICALLY AND COMPUTER SIMULATIONS OF A SUITE OF HYPERVELOCITY IMPACT EVENTS WILL BE PERFORMED IN AN EFFORT TO ASSESS OVERALL SHIELD PERFORMANCE AND THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE CERAMIC COMPONENT(S) TO THIS PERFORMANCE. THESE COMPUTER SIMULATIONS WILL BE BASED UPON AN ADVANCED PHYSICALLY-BASED MODEL OF CERAMICS WHICH WAS RECENTLY DEVELOPED BY TRANS-SCIENCE CORPORATION FOR APPLICATION TO ARMOR/ ANTI-ARMOR PROBLEMS. SHIELD SYSTEM DESIGNS WILL BE SELECTED IN CONJUNCTION WITH MARTIN MARIETTA WHO HAS GAINED VALUABLE DESIGN/TEST EXPERIENCE UNDER A PREVIOUS SDI DEFENSE SHIELDS DEMONSTRATION (DSD) PROGRAM. THE ADVANTAGES OF CERAMIC INSERTION INTO A SHIELD SYSTEM WILL BE DELINEATED AND A CANDIDATE DESIGN WILL BE SELECTED FOR A MORE DETAILED THEORETICAL/EXPERIMENTAL STUDY IN PHASE II. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS - STAND-OFF SHIELD FOR ALL LONG-TERM SPACECRAFT/SATELLITES.