SIMULATING ASTEROID RUBBLE PILES WITH A SELF-GRAVITATING SOFT-SPHERE DISTINCT ELEMENT METHOD MODEL

Journal Article · Tue Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/727/2/120· OSTI ID:21567516

Sanchez, Paul; Scheeres, Daniel J ^[1]

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1. Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309-431UCB (United States)

This paper applies a soft-sphere distinct element method Granular Dynamics code to simulate asteroid regolith and rubble piles. Applications to regolith studies in low gravity are also studied. Then an algorithm to calculate self-gravity is derived and incorporated for full-scale simulations of rubble-pile asteroids using Granular Dynamics techniques. To test its validity, the algorithm's results are compared with the exact direct calculation of the gravitational forces. Further avenues to improve the performance of the algorithm are also discussed.

• OSTI ID: 21567516
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 727, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/727/2/120; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ALGORITHMS
ASTEROIDS
GRAVITATION
SIMULATION
MATHEMATICAL LOGIC