Other
Scientific paper
Dec 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufm.p31b1412d&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #P31B-1412
Other
6213 Dust, 6250 Moon (1221)
Scientific paper
Tribocharging of lunar regolith can occur by micrometeorite gardening and by anthropogenic interaction with the lunar surface. The tribocharged material may then be lofted into the exosphere by near-surface electrical fields created by solar wind and radiation effects. On the basis of a simple charge-to-mass ratio, the finest dust should be the most readily lofted. However, this model assumes that all particles in the affected material become charged, and that charging is a homogeneous process. Laboratory experiments have demonstrated that it is not simply the smallest particles that are subject to lofting. In an analog Debye-sheath electrical field between capacitor plates, tribocharged (vibrated) lunar simulant materials released both dust and silt/sand size materials into the electrical field. This observation was made with scanning electron microscopy of particle traps within the electrical field. The lab experiments also demonstrated an extreme inhomogeneity of tribocharging in the test samples. Ostensibly, the tribocharging vibrational energy was uniform throughout the sample, but observations of surface 'bursting', ' ballistic fountaining', and other phenomena indicated localized (millimeter-scale) electrical inhomogeneity. Theoretical modeling of tribocharging also suggests that there may be an optimum size fraction for charging. The coarsest particles undergo the greatest number of contact electrification events, but are too massive to be lifted. The finest particles are hidden or shielded from tribocharging by adhering to larger host grains in mechanical recesses. Medium-size particles receive moderate charging and are light enough to be lifted in the electrical fields; particles of several tens of microns may be optimally sized for lofting.
Davis Sanford S.
Laub J.
Marshall James J.
Richard Denis
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