European impact test results database

There is an expressed interest of European Industry and Space Agencies to have web-based access to experimental results from hypervelocity impact tests on various spacecraft surfaces and structural elements including shields. Front-end data are needed to make the proper selection for spacecraft protection systems based on impact test data. In order to meet these requirements, the European Impact Test Results Data Base has been designed, developed and filled with 700 comprehensive datasets from European sources. This development was funded by ESA under contract 18736. The Impact Test Results Database is server-based software, accessible through the world-wide-web. It is platform-independent; the user can access the data in any internet browser. Data are inserted into the database in a two-step process: The data have to be typed manually in Excel Import Spreadsheets that have been defined for each target configuration class (total number of target configuration classes is 24). In the second step, the Impact Test Data are imported automatically to the database by specially developed importer software. The great advantage of this procedure is that the database does not have to be re-designed every time the number of parameters in each configuration changes. Based on a literature survey, a great number of European References containing Impact Test Data have been identified. Additionally, representatives from European Agencies, Research Institutions and Companies have been requested to contribute data to the database. Initial datasets have been added to the database. The long-term goal of the Impact Test Result Database is to become the primary web portal to all impact test results at least within Europe. Copyright ©2011 by Fraunhofer EMI. Published by the IAF, with permission and released to the IAF to publish in all forms.