Study of the effects of projectile strength and density in the asteroid deflection by hypervelocity impact

Abstract

In recent years, potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs), which have orbits approaching the Earth and are a threat to humankind, have been attracting attention. It is necessary to prevent them from impacting the Earth, and asteroid deflection by hypervelocity impact is one of the best impact avoidance. This asteroid deflection needs to be greater, but momentum enhancement factor β, which represents deflection efficiency, is affected by various factors. This study focused on projectile strength and density, and experiments for small-scale impacts and numerical simulations for large-scale impacts were conducted to clarify these effects on β. In experiments, six types of projectiles with different strengths and densities and the same shape and size were impacted into brick targets at 1-3.5 km/s using a Two-Stage Light Gas Gun to investigate the effects in actual impacts. In simulations, three types of projectiles with different densities and the same shape and mass were impacted into granite targets at 3-10 km/s using AUTODTN to investigate the effects in asteroid-deflection-scale impacts, which are difficult for experiments. In conclusion, the effect of projectile strength on β is less, and the one of projectile density on β is high. It is demonstrated that projectiles whose density is close to the target density increase β, namely, are suitable for asteroid deflection regardless of impact scale. Additionally, a crater formed by hypervelocity impact is a preferably flat shape for asteroid deflection, and the effect of crater shape on β is higher at large-scale impact. Further study of this effect and the scaling one could be expected.