HYPERVELOCITY IMPACT TESTING OF THE PRESSURIZED MATING ADAPTERS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

摘要

The International Space Station (ISS) has three pressurized mating adapters (PMAs) that are uniquely designed with the latest machining and welling technologies. Each PMA shell consists of five individually machined 2219-T852 ring forging welded together using a precision variable polarity plasma arc (VPPA) welding process. Low-cost, lightweight metallic shielding is used as on-orbit protection against meteoroid and orbital debris impacts. To determine the adequacy of this shielding at both the weld and nonweld regions, a two-phase hypervelocity impact (HVI) test program was completed at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) Hypervelocity Impact Test Facility (HIT-F). From this test program, it was determined that the shield performance at the PMA pressure shell's critical weld and nonweld regions met and exceeded analysis predictions for the most penetrating threats achievable with no indications of premature through-cracking, perforation, detached spell, or excessive bulging.