Study of satellite surface resistance to erosive wear

Abstract

The purpose of the research was to study the high-speed impact interaction of a stream of meteor particles and the space satellite surface. The paper describes the effects arising from the movement of microparticles in a material, gives models of the solid particle–metal surfaces interaction, and introduces experimental and analytical dependencies. Within the study, we identified the main factors and estimated their influence on the wear of the surface parts. Furthermore, we examined the mechanism of material destruction depending on the ratio between the hardness of the wear particles and the material. The paper describes various ways of protecting satellites from the influence of the space environment: the use of high-strength and high friction resistance materials, e.g. tungsten, titanium, in the manufacture of the load-bearing structure; the limitation of the spacecraft operation time in space; the use of protective screens and multilayer walls. We studied friction and erosion caused by single particles, the possibility of thermally localized deformation, i.e. adiabatic shear, resulted from local heating, and introduced the mechanism of plastic materials erosion caused by small size abrasive particles. The response of the material at such particle velocities is little known. The study postulates that the material removal (wear) when the surface of the spacecraft is exposed to a stream of abrasive particles results from the interaction of several simultaneously occurring processes due to the separate or combined influence of the components of the stream of these particles. It is recommended that when considering the erosion of material in the stream around the space environment, it is necessary to take the following into account: collisions of particles with each other inside the oncoming stream; crushing of individual particles; screening of the treated surface by particles bouncing off it; a wide range of angles of incidence of particles at a certain point in time; influence of the treated surface on the trajectory of cosmic particles; subsurface damage to the material due to repeated impacts with microparticles; adsorption effect of reducing the strength of the spacecraft surface material at the interface between the spacecraft surface and the stream, etc.