Modeling the Mechanisms of the Destruction of the Surface Layer of a Meteoroid under the Influence of a Thermal Factor

V. A. Andrushchenko, V. A. Goloveshkin & N. G. Syzranova

Mathematical Models and Computer Simulations, Volume 13, pages 698–704 (2021)
Published: 14 July 2021

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“Based on the equations of the classical linear theory of elasticity, a model problem of the stress-strain state of an elastic cylinder simulating a meteoroid falling in the atmosphere with a thin surface layer heated due to thermal loads is formulated and analytically solved. The influence of an inhomogeneous temperature field on this process is isolated and separately investigated within the linear formulation of the problem. The maximum shear stresses are calculated for two cases of heating this layer, corresponding to a rapidly rotating cylinder and one moving without rotation, exceeding the critical value of the strength of its material. Over the past decade, astronomers have identified several dozen small decameter-sized bodies of the solar system, which have sufficiently high initial periods of rotation even in outer space. The features of the mechanisms of the formation of the surface relief of precipitating meteoroids of various types for these cases are revealed. Thus, rapidly rotating meteoroids, subject to the peeling effect—dropping off of a thin heated outer layer—fell out in the form of meteorites with a smooth surface structure. For those that fell progressively, the meteorites had a sculptural surface relief covered with regmaglypts generated by Görtler vortices.”