On Low-Velocity Collisions of Viscoelastic Particles

Jan-Martin Hertzsch , Frank Spahn , Nikolai Brilliantov

The theory of the elastic contact of two bodies developed by Hertz [1] is generalized including the contribution of viscous effects to the total stress. A nonlinear differential equation for the compression is derived for particles with arbitrary curvature of their surfaces and is solved numerically for spherical particles. The resulting dependence of the normal restitution coefficient on the impact velocity is calculated and compared with experimental data for ice at low temperatures [2, 3]. A good agreement is found which allows to estimate unknown material constants in certain cases. An astrophysical application of the results is briefly discussed for the especially interesting case of icy particles in planetary rings.

Domaines: Articles anciens

Jan-Martin Hertzsch, Frank Spahn, Nikolai Brilliantov. On Low-Velocity Collisions of Viscoelastic Particles. Journal de Physique II, 1995, 5 (11), pp.1725-1738. ⟨10.1051/jp2:1995210⟩. ⟨jpa-00248265⟩