Using the stress–strain properties for a polymer (Figure 11.13 and Table 11.1), determine whether a sheet of this polymer 0.10 m thick could serve as a micrometeorite shield if this time the shield must survive a micrometeorite strike without being permanently dented or damaged. Assume the properties of the polymer are symmetric in tension and in compression.

Involve the situation depicted below. Consider a “micrometeorite” to be a piece of mineral that is approximately a sphere of diameter 1.0 × 10^-6 m and of density 2.0 × 10³ kg/m³. It travels through outer space at a speed of 5.0 × 10³ m/s relative to a spacecraft. Your job as an engineer is to provide a micrometeorite shield for the spacecraft. Assume that if the micrometeorite strikes the shield, it affects only a volume of the shield 1.0 × 10^-6 m in diameter and extending through the entire thickness of the shield.

Figure 11.13

Shield Diameter = 1 micron Portion of shield affected by the micrometeorite is a cylinder with the same diameter as Micrometeorite the micrometeorite - Thickness, T