LAUSR

A multi-layer fabric coated aluminum plate is usually used in the hard upper torso of space suit to protect astronauts from getting hurt by space dust. In this paper, the protective performance of the multi-layer fabric coated aluminum plate is investigated. To establish its ballistic limit equation, thirteen hyper velocity impact tests with different impact velocities (maximum velocity is 6.19 km/s) and projectile diameters have been conducted. To provide data for impact velocity higher than 6.2 km/s which is hard to be obtained by tests due to the limitations of test equipment capacity, a material point method (MPM) model is established for the multi-layer fabric coated aluminum plate and validated/corrected using the test results. The numerical results obtained using the corrected MPM model for impact velocity higher than 6.2 km/s are used together with the test results to develop the ballistic limit equation. The corrected MPM model and the ballistic limit equation developed for the multi-layer fabric coated aluminum plate provide an effective tool for the space suit design.