Pyrotechnic approach to space debris destruction: From thermal modeling to hypersonic wind tunnel tests

Abstract The problem of the space debris is an important aspect of the on-ground casualty risk reduction. Some articles, like fuel tanks made of titanium alloy, survive during the atmospheric post-mission re-entry and impact the Earth's surface, thus posing a serious hazard. A pyrotechnic device is proposed to bring an additional heating of space debris at a certain altitude promoting its destruction and fragmentation into smaller parts during re-entry. 3D thermal modeling of the non-stationary thermal wave propagation through the system ‘pyrotechnic device - fuel tank wall’ has been performed alongside with extensive experimental testing. The pyrotechnic composition (namely, thermite), the design of the pyrotechnic device, the conjunction between the device, and the target plate surface were optimized during modeling. The first level of experimental verification included lab-tests with laser heating. At the second level, large-scale tests were conducted within the hypersonic wind tunnel to achieve the conditions closest to the atmospheric re-entry. The presented results reveal the usefulness of pyrotechnics for space applications; and the performed thermal engineering approach can be extended to materials other than titanium to decrease the on-ground casualty risk of space debris.