Discharges of plasma induced by hypervelocity impact on the solar array with different substrate structures 1

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is to investigate the discharge of the plasma generated by a projectile hypervelocity impact on solar array with three kinds of different substrates at the 60° incidence angle and the external applied voltage of 100 voltage. Four sets of experiments were performed to impact solar arrays with CFRP Aluminum honeycomb sandwich substrate, Aluminum honeycomb sandwich substrate and the aluminum substrate by using two-stage light gas gun loading system and discharge measurement system established. Experimental results showed that discharge voltage and discharge current of the solar array with CFRP Aluminum honeycomb sandwich substrate are the most strongest among the solar array with CFRP Aluminum honeycomb sandwich substrate, Aluminum honeycomb sandwich substrate and the aluminum substrate. This work will be helpful to improve the material and substrate' structure of the solar arrays in spacecrafts.

Keywords

Hypervelocity impact plasma solar array with different substrate discharge current discharge voltage

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