The Finite Element Method is used to simulate the impact of a small (6.25g) object on the shield of an Earth-orbiting spacecraft. As a first step in the understanding of the effects of such an impact it is essential to acquire an appreciation of the magnitude of the forces likely to occur in these circumstances. The FEM offers an opportunity to investigate these effects relatively easily, an experimental investigation of the process, in either an actual or a laboratory environment, being a challenging task for the researcher. The computed results indicate many novel features of stress wave generation, propagation, transmission, reflection and refraction which appear to be meaningful and will hopefully give rise to some constructive discussions. However, they will remain unconfirmed until actual measurements are available for comparison.

  • INTRODUCTION

  • MODEL DISCRETISATION

  • BOUNDARY CONDITIONS

  • MATERIAL

  • MESH CONVERGENCE STUDIES

  • RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

  • CONCLUSIONS

  • ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  • REFERENCES

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