Abstract
This paper will examine the applicability of the hypervelocity collision model included in the NASA standard breakup model 2000 revision to low-velocity collisions possible in space, especially in the geosynchronous regime. The analytic method used in the standard breakup model will be applied to experimental data accumulated through low-velocity impact experiments performed at Kyushu Institute of Technology at a velocity about 300m/s and 800m/s. The projectiles and target specimens used were aluminum solid balls and aluminum honeycomb sandwich panels with face sheets of carbon fiber reinforced plastic, respectively. Then, we have found that a kind of lower boundary exists on fragment area-to-mass distribution at a smaller characteristic length range. This paper will describe the theoretical derivation of lower boundary and propose another modification on fragment area-to-mass distribution and it will conclude that the hypervelocity collision model in the standard breakup model can be applied to low-velocity collisions possible with some modifications.
