This animation illustrates the generation of the debris and ejecta clouds after a spherical aluminum projectile impacts a thin aluminum plate at approximately 7 km/s. The frame interval is about 1 microsecond.

When a projectile traveling at hypervelocity (greater than 3 km/s) impacts a thin plate, like those found in many orbital debris shields, it fragments into smaller particles. As previously explained, shock waves from to the impact will cause fragmentation, leading to possible melting and vaporization. If the plate is too thin to completely stop the projectile, a cloud of debris will be expelled out the rear of the thin plate. Likewise, an ejecta cloud may be ejected out the front surface of the plate. Both clouds are composed of material from both the thin plate and the projectile. Clouds consist of various combinations of solid, liquid, and gaseous materials, depending on impact parameters like projectile shape, impact angle, impact velocity, etc.

With respect to protecting spacecraft, a thin plate acting as a shield may provide some benefits. The resulting debris cloud is less dense than the original projectile, and the force of the debris cloud impact on any structure downstream is spread out over a larger area. More insight on debris clouds can be found in the high-speed camera section.