Collisions between equal sized ice grain agglomerates

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

7 pages, 11 figures, accepted by A&A

Scientific paper

10.1051/0004-6361:20077354

Following the recent insight in the material structure of comets, protoplanetesimals are assumed to have low densities and to be highly porous agglomerates. It is still unclear if planetesimals can be formed from these objects by collisional growth. Therefore, it is important to study numerically the collisional outcome from low velocity impacts of equal sized porous agglomerates which are too large to be examined in a laboratory experiment. We use the Lagrangian particle method Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics to solve the equations that describe the dynamics of elastic and plastic bodies. Additionally, to account for the influence of porosity, we follow a previous developed equation of state and certain relations between the material strength and the relative density. Collisional growth seems possible for rather low collision velocities and particular material strengths. The remnants of collisions with impact parameters that are larger than 50% of the radius of the colliding objects tend to rotate. For small impact parameters, the colliding objects are effectively slowed down without a prominent compaction of the porous structure, which probably increases the possibility for growth. The protoplanetesimals, however, do not stick together for the most part of the employed material strengths. An important issue in subsequent studies has to be the influence of rotation to collisional growth. Moreover, for realistic simulations of protoplanetesimals it is crucial to know the correct material parameters in more detail.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Collisions between equal sized ice grain agglomerates does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Collisions between equal sized ice grain agglomerates, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Collisions between equal sized ice grain agglomerates will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-439019

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.