Engineering topics

Hartlep, T.

Publications and source records attributed to Hartlep, T..

3 records

NASA NTRS2017

Aggregates: The Fundamental Building Blocks of Planetesimals?

The initial accretion of primitive asteroids (meteorite parent bodies) from freely-floating nebula particles remains problematic. Traditional growth-by-sticking models in turbulent nebulae encounter a formidable "meter-size barrier" due to both drift and destruction, or even a mmtocmsize "bouncing" barrier. Even if growth by sticking could somehow breach these barriers (perhaps if the actual sticking or strength is larger than current estimates, which are based on pure ice or pure silicate), turbulent nebulae present further obstacles through the 1-10km size range. On the other hand, nonturbulent nebulae form large asteroids too quickly to explain long spreads in formation times, or the dearth of melted asteroids. Thus, the intensity of nebula turbulence (or "alpha ") is critical to the entire process. Theoretical understanding of nebula turbulence continues to evolve; while recent models of MRI (magneticallydriven) turbulence favor lowornoturbulence environments, purely hydrodynamic turbulence is making a comeback with three recently discovered mechanisms generating turbulence of moderate which do not rely on magnetic fields at all.

Cuzzi, J. N.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Planetesimal Initial Mass Functions and Creation Rates Under Turbulent Concentration Using Scale-Dependent Cascades

The initial accretion of primitive bodies from freely-floating nebula particles remains problematic. Traditional growth-by-sticking models in turbulent nebulae encounter a "meter-size barrier" due to both drift and destruction, or even a millimeter-to-centimeter-size "bouncing" barrier. Recent suggestions have been made that some "lucky" particles might be able to outgrow the collision and/or drift barriers, and lead to so-called "streaming instabilities" or SI. However, new full models of growth by sticking in the presence of radial drift show that lucky particles (the largest particles, at the tail of the size distribution, that grow beyond the nominal fragmentation and drift barriers) are far too rare to lead to any collective effects such as streaming or gravitational instabilities. Thus we need to focus on typical radii gamma(sub M) which contain most of the mass. Our models of disks with weak-to-moderate turbulence, which include all the most recent experimental constraints on collisional growth, erosion, bouncing, and fragmentation, as well as radial drift, find that growth stalls quite generally at sizes gamma(sub M) which are too small to settle into layers which are dense enough for any collective effects (streaming or gravitational instabilities) to arise. Even if growth by sticking could somehow breach the nominal barriers (perhaps if the actual sticking or strength is larger than current estimates for pure ice or pure silicate, with specific grain sizes), turbulent nebulae present subsequent formidable obstacles to incremental growth through the 1-10km size range. On the other hand, non-turbulent nebulae alpha is less than 10(Sup -4).

turbulent nebulae↗

NASA NTRS2015

Turbulent Concentration of mm-Size Particles in the Protoplanetary Nebula: Scale-Dependent Cascades

The initial accretion of primitive bodies (here, asteroids in particular) from freely-floating nebula particles remains problematic. Traditional growth-by-sticking models encounter a formidable "meter-size barrier" (or even a mm-to-cm-size barrier) in turbulent nebulae, making the preconditions for so-called "streaming instabilities" difficult to achieve even for so-called "lucky" particles. Even if growth by sticking could somehow breach the meter size barrier, turbulent nebulae present further obstacles through the 1-10km size range. On the other hand, nonturbulent nebulae form large asteroids too quickly to explain long spreads in formation times, or the dearth of melted asteroids. Theoretical understanding of nebula turbulence is itself in flux; recent models of MRI (magnetically-driven) turbulence favor low-or- no-turbulence environments, but purely hydrodynamic turbulence is making a comeback, with two recently discovered mechanisms generating robust turbulence which do not rely on magnetic fields at all. An important clue regarding planetesimal formation is an apparent 100km diameter peak in the pre-depletion, pre-erosion mass distribution of asteroids; scenarios leading directly from independent nebula particulates to large objects of this size, which avoid the problematic m-km size range, could be called "leapfrog" scenarios. The leapfrog scenario we have studied in detail involves formation of dense clumps of aerodynamically selected, typically mm-size particles in turbulence, which can under certain conditions shrink inexorably on 100-1000 orbit timescales and form 10-100km diameter sandpile planetesimals. There is evidence that at least the ordinary chondrite parent bodies were initially composed entirely of a homogeneous mix of such particles. Thus, while they are arcane, turbulent concentration models acting directly on chondrule size particles are worthy of deeper study. The typical sizes of planetesimals and the rate of their formation can be estimated using a statistical model with properties inferred from large numerical simulations of turbulence. Nebula turbulence is described by its Reynolds number Re = (L/eta)(exp 4/3), where L = H alpha(exp 1/2) is the largest eddy scale, H is the nebula gas vertical scale height, alpha the turbulent viscosity parameter, and eta is the Kolmogorov or smallest scale in turbulence (typically about 1km), with eddy turnover time t(sub eta). In the nebula, Re is far larger than any numerical simulation can handle, so some physical arguments are needed to extend the results of numerical simulations to nebula conditions. In this paper, we report new physics to be incorporated into our statistical models.

mm-size particles↗