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American Physical Society, Physical review E: Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics, 3(90)

DOI: 10.1103/physreve.90.032208

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Penetration of spherical projectiles into wet granular media

Journal article published in 2014 by S. P. D. Birch, M. Manga ORCID, B. Delbridge, M. Chamberlain
This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

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Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

We measure experimentally the penetration depth d of spherical particles into a water-saturated granular medium made of much smaller sand-sized grains. We vary the density, size R, and velocity U of the impacting spheres, and the size δ of the grains in the granular medium. We consider velocities between 7 and 107 m/s, a range not previously addressed, but relevant for impacts produced by volcanic eruptions. We find that d∝R^{1/3}δ^{1/3}U^{2/3}. The scaling with velocity is similar to that identified in previous, low-velocity collisions, but it also depends on the size of the grains in the granular medium. We develop a model, consistent with the observed scaling, in which the energy dissipation is dominated by the work required to rearrange grains along a network of force chains in the granular medium.