Low-speed impact craters in loose granular media

2003/01/31 by J. S. Uehara, M. A. Ambroso, R. P. Ojha +1 · 3 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #cond-mat.soft

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.90.194301

published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 194301 (2003) · experiment; 4 pages, 3 figures

arxiv created 2003/03/25 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30

Abstract

We report on craters formed by balls dropped into dry, non-cohesive, granular media. By explicit variation of ball density ρ_b, diameter D_b, and drop height H, the crater diameter is confirmed to scale as the 1/4 power of the energy of the ball at impact: D_c∼(ρ_bD_b³H)^1/4. Against expectation, a different scaling law is discovered for the crater depth: d∼(ρ_b^3/2D_b²H)^1/3. The scaling with properties of the medium is also established. The crater depth has significance for granular mechanics in that it relates to the stopping force on the ball.

Cited by

• Early-stage impact dynamics in dense suspensions of millimeter-sized particles
• A Physics-Based Continuum Model for Versatile, Scalable, and Fast Terramechanics Simulation
• Scaling laws for doublet craters formed by low-velocity impacts of unequal-mass spheres into a granular bed

Related

• Projectile-shape dependence of impact craters in loose granular media
• Crater Depth Prediction in Granular Collisions: A Uniaxial Compression Model
• Scaling laws for doublet craters formed by low-velocity impacts of unequal-mass spheres into a granular bed
• Penetration depth for shallow impact cratering
• Dropping the Ball: The effect of anisotropic granular materials on ejecta and impact crater shape