2003/12/31 by Massimo Pica Ciamarra, Antonio H. Lara, Andrew T. Lee +3 · 187 citations
Engineering · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Ballistics #Classical mechanics #Drag #Dynamics (music) #Granular flow and fluidized beds #High-Velocity Impact and Material Behavior #Mechanics #Physics #Projectile #Range of a projectile #Sports Dynamics and Biomechanics #physics.flu-dyn
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.92.194301
published in Physical Review Letters 92(19), 194301 (American Physical Society) · 4 pages
arxiv created 2004/04/27 · openalex publication_date 2004/05/14 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Our experiments and molecular dynamics simulations on a projectile penetrating a two-dimensional granular medium reveal that the mean deceleration of the projectile is constant and proportional to the impact velocity. Thus, the time taken for a projectile to decelerate to a stop is independent of its impact velocity. The simulations show that the probability distribution function of forces on grains is time independent during a projectile's deceleration in the medium. At all times the force distribution function decreases exponentially for large forces.