Physicomechanical properties and gravitational deformation of metallic asteroids

Abstract

A review is given of the mineralogical and chemical composition of iron meteorites and the problems associated with their origin. A detailed discussion is presented of the physical and mechanical properties of iron meteorites and their dependence on the structure, chemical composition, and temperature. Iron meteorites are shown to characterize, with no distortions, the physical and mechanical properties of their parent bodies (metallic asteroids). The population of M-type asteroids and the main characteristics of the identified metallic asteroids are examined. Compared with iron meteorites, metallic asteroids have a different shape and are not fragments of larger metallic parent bodies. The estimates for the current deviatoric stress in metallic asteroids show that, since their formation, asteroids have not been heated to over 600°C and certainly have not been subjected to partial or complete melting. An empirical dependence is found of the critical dimensions of small metallic objects (which allow for gravitational deformation) on the yield strength at temperatures below 300 K. It is shown that the physical and mechanical data are also a strong argument against the hypothesis of the origin of iron meteorites and metallic asteroids from the iron core of a differentiated parent body.