Behavior of multilayer transparent spacecraft elements during high-speed collision with compact impactors

Among the causes of spacecraft damage and destruction are collisions with high-speed meteorites and anthropogenic space debris. Optical components, e.g. windows, lenses, mirrors, etc. are the most affected. In this regard, the task of ensuring mechanical stability while preserving the transparency of these elements is urgent. Numerical simulation using the Ansys Autodyn software package is used to study the behavior of transparent spacecraft elements modeled by multilayer glass panel, which may include transparent ceramics and polymers, when exposed to high-speed (up to 1 km/s) and ultra-high-speed (up to 10 km/s) impactors of various nature. It is shown that the main reasons for the destruction of a multilayer glass panel during the penetration of a high-speed impactor are high stresses in the impact zone and tensile stresses that occur when the glass layers bend at the interface. Intensive destruction of glass layers (except for the front layer) begins not from the interface with the previous layer, but from the interface with the next layer in the zone of action of tensile stresses arising from the bending of the layer under consideration, and propagates towards the impact. The low-strength adhesive layer between the layers of glass delays and even stops the propagation of the wave of destruction from the previous layer of glass to the next. In the ultra-high-speed range of impactor speeds, the destruction of a multilayer glass panel occurs directly in the zone of interaction between the impactor and the barrier. Preliminary destruction of the glass in the front of the shock wave ahead of the penetrating impactor does not occur.