INCORPORATING KINETIC ENERGY IMPACT HARDNESS IN METALLATED CARBON LASER SHIELD MATERIALS

METALLATED CARBON COMPOSITES (MCC) ARE CARBON OR GRAPHITE STRUCTURAL MATERIALS LOADED WITH REFRACTORY METALS. THIS CLASS OF MATERIALS IS BEING CONSIDERED AS HIGH INTENSITY LASER IRRADIATION SHIELD MATERIALS DUE TO THEIR LOW ABSORPTIVITY, HIGH HEAT OF ABLATION AND LONG RELATIVE BURN THROUGH TIME. AS SHIELD MATERIALS OF MCC MUST CONTEND WITH KINETIC ENERGY IMPACTS. THE SPARTA SHIELD CONCEPT EMPLOYS MCC FOR BOTH PRIMARY (OUTER) AND SECONDARY (INNER) COMPONENTS. VERY LITTLE WORK HAS BEEN DONE ON KINETIC ENERGY IMPACTS ON MCC ESPECIALLY AT HYPERVELOCITY SPEEDS. DATA HAS BEEN OBTAINED ON GRAPHITE AND CARBONCARBON MATERIALS FOR REENTRY VEHICLE NOSETIP AND HEATSHIELD RESPONSE UP TO ABOUT 6 KM/SEC. THUS, IT IS NOT CLEAR HOW THE MCC CLASS OF MATERIALS WILL PERFORM WHEN DIRECTLY EXPOSED TO KINETIC ENERGY IMPACTS. THIS PROJECT IS DESIGNED TO OBTAIN LIMITED DATA TO ASSESS THE KINETIC ENERGY IMPACT HARDNESS OF CANDIDATE MCC LASER SHIELD MATERIALS AND IDENTIFY APPROACHES TO INCORPORATING IMPROVED KINETIC ENERGY IMPACT HARDNESS OF THIS CLASS OF MATERIALS.