Single bumper shields based on Vectran fibers Original Research Article

High strength fiber is a potential material for shielding from a viewpoint of strength, lightweight and flexibility. We developed a single bumper shield based on Vectran fibers, that stopped a polycarbonate projectile with 14 mm in diameter, 1 g in weight and 6.45 km/s in velocity. The thickness of this shield was 7 mm. As compared with the mesh stuffed Whipple bumper shield installed on the Japanese Experiment Module, the areal density was half and the thickness was approximately one sixteenth. The aim of our hypervelocity impact experiments was to develop a thin bumper material consisting of only Vectran fibers and to research a deployable shielding system for debris protection using the fiber material. The results indicated that the new thin shield with 7 mm in thickness has a good protection capability. The new single bumper shield may provide the basic technology for reinforcing the protection capability and reducing the weight of the shield drastically.