Small-size railgun of mm-size solid bodies for hypervelocity material testing

The shielding of spacecraft and satellites from the impacts of space debris particles of millimeter size is an important problem in space industry and exploration. As a rule, these particles have irregular shapes; therefore, their impact leads to different consequences from the impact of spherical particles. The goal of our study was to reveal specific features in the hypervelocity impact of cubic impactors on thin metal and polymer plates (elements of multilayer spacecraft and satellite shielding, which is known as the “Whipple shield”). •An experimental setup to study hypervelocity impact on metal-composite “Whipple shield” was developed.•“Whipple shield” was composed of an outer aluminum bumper and an inner polyethylene•The degree and area of the polyethylene bumper damage depended on the aluminum bumper thickness