Spaceships hull armor…solid?

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

I would only expect such behavior only at velocities below that needed for meteoric explosion. When the velocity of impact is enough to blow both the impactor and the outer layer of armor into a plasma that's even hotter than that of detonating high explosive it's going to expand like high explosive and the net momentum of armor and impactor will be seen only over the whole explosion.

That’s not what is found when engineers test it. Actual spacecraft such as the ISS are built with (multi-bump, stuffed) Whipple shields and not with monolithic slab armour because hypervelocity impacts are in fact not only grossly energetic but also penetrating. Superficial explosions are not observed in tests, and actual rocket scientists don’t plan for them. Your expectations notwithstanding.