Dynamic Testing of Insulation Foam Impact against Rigid Body
- Paper number
IAC-05-C2.1.A.11
- Author
Mr. Sergey Samorezov, ZIN Technologies, United States
- Year
2005
- Abstract
A series of tests was conducted at the NASA Glenn Research Center Ballistic Impact Laboratory to characterize the high strain rate behavior of Space Shuttle External Tank foam insulation material. The tests involved ballistic impact of the foam against a rigid body. To conduct these tests, an impact facility was designed to measure the dynamic forces generated by the foam projectiles during the impact event. In this facility a single stage compressed gas gun was used to launch the projectiles against a plate mounted on piezoelectric load cells. The results of the tests were used to develop nonlinear constitutive models of foam for transient analyses and also contributed to planning of full scale impact tests conducted by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. This paper describes the process used to design the facility and the modifications that were made to the initial design to increase measurement accuracy.
- Abstract document