SIZE SCALING OF FAILURE PROCESSES IN IMPACT

Abstract

When a high speed or hypervelocity impact occurs, a crater is formed. Size scaling of this event is of interest, meaning, for example, how the crater properties change as the projectile size increases. While penetration depth normalized by projectile radius is fairly insensitive to projectile size, there are other aspects of the cratering process that are quite sensitive to the size of the projectile, including mass of material liberated as ejecta and the amount of momentum that ejecta material has. It is show that there is reasonably good understanding of ejecta mass, but momentum enhancement is still a challenging topic, which we show through experimental results with two aluminums. We also discuss the same effects in concrete targets and the possibility of obtaining more understanding of the size scaling process with the upcoming DART impact into an asteroid.