Application of fiber Bragg grating sensors and a fiber optic laser Doppler vibrometer for hypervelocity impacts

Hypervelocity impacts occur frequently in space due to dust that occurs naturally from comets or other space debris often called meteoroids; other debris is man-made and can have disastrous effects on spacecraft. Even though the particle may have a very small mass its momentum can be extremely high and destroy space craft. It is therefore vitally important to simulate the effects of hypervelocity impacts on vulnerable areas of satellites and space stations. A two stage light gas gun was previously developed for this purpose. In this paper we briefly describe two fiber optic based impact measurement systems that were tested at the light gas gun facility at the University of Kent to establish that they could provide data that could not be obtained by any other technique.