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Feasibility of kinetic orbital bombardment Cover
Open Access
|Feb 2024

Figures & Tables

Fig. 1:

Initial conditions for the re-entry simulation.

Fig. 2:

Diagram of the re-entering projectile.

Fig. 3:

Drag coefficient (CD) vs. Mach number for the XM110 projectile for both laminar and turbulent flow. This graph is based on data collected by Braun (1973).

Fig. 4:

Flight trajectory (a), velocity (b) and path angle (c) to test the influence of the Reynolds number.

Fig. 5:

Penetration mechanisms.

Fig. 6:

Schematic of normal and oblique impacts. The blue bar represents the projectile and the dashed bar represents the impact cavity.

Fig. 7:

Normalised penetration depth graphed for concrete (blue) and steel (orange) and for a range of impact velocities v0.

Fig. 8:

Flight time as a function of the projectile length for different altitudes.

Fig. 9:

Penetration depth as a function of the projectile length for concrete targets.

Fig. 10:

Initial orbital velocity and ΔV as a function of orbital height, necessary to transfer to a 15 km orbit.

Fig. 11:

Flight path angle vs. time for a projectile length of 0.56 m for different start altitudes.

Fig. 12:

Earthquake magnitude for projectile lengths ranging from 0.1 m to 6.1 m.

Fig. 13:

Mass-to-orbit per projectile for varied lengths of projectiles.

Fig. 14:

Penetration depth P for concrete and steel for different methods and projectile lengths. (Left: concrete; Right: steel).

Flight parameters for different delivery methods (the range of the results is associated with the effect of the projectile length)_

MethodImpact velocity [m/s]Impact angle [°]
Re-entry240–6,6005–60
Bomber250–60063–80
Suborbital flight1,215–6,32535–36

Overview of relevant material properties_

Materialρt [kg/m3]fc[MPa]$f_c^\prime [{\rm{MPa}}]$Rt [GPa]
7 ksi Concrete [HJC]2,44048-
SAC5 Concrete [N et al.]2,29937.9-
WSMR-5 3/4 Concrete [SYG]2,29944.8-
3.7 ksi Concrete [SYG]1,99025.5-
Concrete [VLK]2,30051-
Limestone [VLK] [WHP]2,300–2,32058–63-
Sandstone [B et al.]2,000–2,04016–30-
Steel [T]7,850-3.45–5.18

Overview of material properties with dynamic penetration parameters_

Materialρtkgm3${\rho _t}\left[ {{{{\rm{kg}}} \over {{{\rm{m}}^3}}}} \right]$fc[MPa]$f_c^\prime {\rm{[MPa]}}$Rt [MPa]Yp [MPa]
Concrete (lower boundary) [SYG]1,99025.5362-
Concrete (upper boundary) [VLK]2,30051495-
Steel (lower boundary) [T]7,850-3,450-
Steel (upper boundary) [T]7,850-5,180-
Tungsten alloy [T]17,000--1,930
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jms-2024-0001 | Journal eISSN: 1799-3350 | Journal ISSN: 2242-3524
Language: English
Page range: 1 - 15
Submitted on: Jan 31, 2023
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Accepted on: Sep 13, 2023
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Published on: Feb 5, 2024
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 issue per year

© 2024 L. Koene, N.V.H. Schouten, R. Savelsberg, published by National Defense University
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.