Preliminary study on shielding performance of debris shield with the rear wall combining light materials and an aluminum plate

•A new way was explore to promote the shielding performance of debris shield by changing the structure of rear wall in the shield.•The rear combined wall consisted of a light material layer clung to an aluminum plate was proposed to instead a single aluminum wall with the same areal density.•Three kinds of shields with rear combined wall were evaluated in hypervelocity impact tests.•Damage on the rear walls was reduced obviously by protection of the light materials.