Interrogating heterogeneous compaction of analogue materials at the mesoscale through numerical modeling and experiments
Meteorites are classified by their relative exposure to three processes: aqueous alteration; thermal metamorphism; and shock processes. They constitute the main evidence available for the conditions in the early solar system. The precursor material to meteorites was bimodal and consisted of large sp...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Conference item |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
AIP Publishing
2018
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| Summary: | Meteorites are classified by their relative exposure to three processes: aqueous alteration; thermal metamorphism; and
shock processes. They constitute the main evidence available for the conditions in the early solar system. The precursor material
to meteorites was bimodal and consisted of large spherical melt droplets (chondrules) surrounded by an extremely fine porous
dust (matrix) with a high bulk porosity (> 50%). We present experiments and simulations, developed in tandem, investigating
the heterogeneous compaction of matter analogous to these precursor materials. Experiments were performed at the European
Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) where radiographs of the shock compaction and wave propagation were taken in-situ and
in real time. Mesoscale simulations were performed using a shock physics code to investigate the heterogeneous response of
these mixtures to shock loading. Two simple scenarios were considered in which the compacted material was pure matrix or pure
matrix with a single inclusion. Good agreement was found between experiment and model in terms of shock position and relative
compaction in the matrix. In addition, spatial variation in post-shock compaction was observed around the single inclusion despite
uniform pre-shock porosity in the matrix. This shock-induced anisotropy in compaction could provide a new way of decoding the
magnitude and direction by which a meteorite was shocked in the past. |
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