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.

中文翻译：

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空间碎片破坏的烟火方法：从热建模到高超音速风洞测试

摘要 空间碎片问题是降低地面人员伤亡风险的一个重要方面。一些物品，如由钛合金制成的燃料箱，在任务后重返大气层期间幸存下来并撞击地球表面，从而构成严重危害。提出了一种烟火装置，可以在一定高度对空间碎片进行额外加热，促进其在再入过程中被破坏和破碎成更小的部分。通过系统“烟火装置 - 燃料箱壁”的非稳态热波传播的 3D 热建模已与广泛的实验测试一起进行。在建模过程中优化了烟火成分（即铝热剂）、烟火装置的设计、装置和目标板表面之间的连接。第一级实验验证包括使用激光加热的实验室测试。第二级，在高超音速风洞内进行大规模试验，以达到最接近大气再入的条件。所呈现的结果揭示了烟火在空间应用中的有用性；并且所执行的热工程方法可以扩展到钛以外的材料，以降低空间碎片的地面伤亡风险。