Engineering topics

Cameron, A. G. W.

Publications and source records attributed to Cameron, A. G. W..

At least 19 records

NASA NTRS2004

The Mean Life Squared Relationship for Abundances of Extinct Radioactivities

We discovered that the abundances of now extinct radioactivities (relative to stable reference isotopes) in meteorites vary as a function of their mean lifetimes squared. This relationship applies to chondrites, achondrites, and irons but to calcium-aluminum inclusions (CAIs). Certain meteorites contain excesses in isotopic abundances from the decay of radioactive isotopes with half-lives much less than the age of the solar system. These short-lived radioactivities are now extinct, but they were alive when meteorites assembled in the early solar system. The origin of these radioactivities and the processes which control their abundances in the solar nebula are still not well understood. Some clues may come from our finding that the meteoritic abundances of now extinct radioactivities (relative to stable reference isotopes) vary as a function of their mean lifetimes squared. This relationship applies to chondrites, achondrites, and irons, but not to CAIs. This points to at least two different processes establishing the abundances of short-lived isotopes found in the meteoritic record.

Lodders, K.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Meteoritical Astrophysics: A New Subdiscipline

A recent remarkable discovery by Katharina Lodders showed that the abundances of extinct radioactivities (relative to reference nuclei) in chondrites, achondrites, and irons are proportional to the squares of their mean lives, whereas no such abundance-mean life relationship is apparent for the data of calcium-aluminum rich inclusions (CAIs) and a variety of other inclusion types. In this talk I shall interpret these results in terms of galactic and solar nebula processes. The first step in organizing the data for interpretation is to require that both the abundance of the extinct radioactivity (as measured by its decay product abundance) and that of the reference nuclide should have the same nucleosynthesis history, or else that a correction to the ratio be made to compensate for the ratio of the two different production processes. The striking feature of this diagram is that the lower edge of the data (the Lodders Line) is remarkably straight; most of the data are derived from chondrites; and its slope on the log-log diagram is two. So the extinct radioactivities are present in proportion to the square of their mean lives. All the other data lie above the Lodders line in this diagram; the sources of that data are in general somewhat larger particles than those that have contributed to the Lodders Line. A straight relationship between abundances of extinct radioactivities

Cameron, A. G. W.↗

NASA NTRS2001

Extinct Radioactivities and the R-Process Jet

All extinct radioactive species in the solar nebula were injected from a core-collapse supernova. I discuss primarily the products expected from an r-process jet in this supernova, and various supporting astrophysical observations. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Cameron, A. G. W.↗

NASA NTRS1993

The giant impact produced a precipitated Moon

The author's current simulations of Giant Impacts on the protoearth show the development of large hot rock vapor atmospheres. The Balbus-Hawley mechanism will pump mass and angular momentum outwards in the equatorial plane; upon cooling and expansion the rock vapor will condense refractory material beyond the Roche distance, where it is available for lunar formation. During the last seven years, the author together with several colleagues has carried out a series of numerical investigations of the Giant Impact theory for the origin of the Moon. These involved three-dimensional simulations of the impact and its aftermath using Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH), in which the matter in the system is divided into discrete particles whose motions and internal energies are determined as a result of the imposed initial conditions. Densities and pressures are determined from the combined overlaps of the particles, which have a bell-shaped density distribution characterized by a smoothing length. In the original series of runs all particle masses and smoothing lengths had the same values; the matter in the colliding bodies consisted of initial iron cores and rock (dunite) mantles. Each of 41 runs used 3,008 particles, took several weeks of continuous computation, and gave fairly good representations of the ultimate state of the post-collision body or bodies but at best crude and qualitative information about individual particles in orbit. During the last two years an improved SPH program was used in which the masses and smoothing lengths of the particles are variable, and the intent of the current series of computations is to investigate the behavior of the matter exterior to the main parts of the body or bodies subsequent to the collisions. These runs are taking times comparable to a year of continuous computation in each case; they use 10,000 particles with 5,000 particles in the target and 5,000 in the impactor, and the particles thus have variable masses and smoothing lengths (the latter are dynamically adjusted so that a particle typically overlaps a few tens of its neighbors). Since the matter in the impactor provides the majority of the mass left in orbit after the collision, and since the masses of the particles that originated in the impactor are smaller than those in the target, the mass resolution in the exterior parts of the problem is greatly improved and the exterior particles properly simulate atmospheres in hydrostatic equilibrium.

Cameron, A. G. W.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Giant impacts on a primitive Uranus

Simulations of collisions are conducted between a model of the primitive Uranus and 1-3 earth-mass impactors, using smooth-particle hydrodynamics. A series of collisions was simulated for each impactor while varying the total angular momentum of the system. Most of the simulation runs left ices in orbit; a subset of the runs also left rock or iron (from the impactor). It is concluded on the basis of these results that there is a wide range of giant impacts which could have produced the current period and inclination of the spin axis relative to the plane of the ecliptic. A subset of these could have deposited the material in orbit from which the regular satellites of Uranus were assembled.

Slattery, Wayne L.↗

NASA NTRS1991

The origin of the moon and the single impact hypothesis. IV

The smoothed-particle hydrodynamics method developed to simulate the conditions under which a major planetary collision may have led to the formation of the moon is presently used in 41 simulations exploring the relevant parameter space. Two possible scenarios emerge: one in which the moon is formed directly in the collision or only after dissipation and evolution of the disk. Attention is given to the Giant Blowoff hypothesis, in which not only the primitive atmosphere but large amounts of mantle material flow over the surface of the orbiting disk and blow off in the forward direction. Large amounts of angular momentum can also be lost.

Cameron, A. G. W.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Tidal disruption of inviscid planetesimals

In view of previous efforts' demonstration that strongly dissipative planetesimals are immune to tidal disruption, an examination is presently conducted of the complementary case of inviscid planetesimals arising from collisions that are sufficiently energetic to entirely melt the resulting planetesimal and debris. The tidal disruption is numerically simulated by means of the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) code of Cameron and Benz (1991), concentrating on the tidal disruption of 0.01 earth-mass planetesimals passing by the earth with variations in the impact parameter at perigee and velocity at infinity. The SPH models show that tidal forces during a close encounter can efficiently convert orbital angular momentum into spin angular momentum, thereby initiating equatorial mass-shedding to inviscid planetesimals that have been spun up beyond the limit of rotational stability.

Boss, A. P.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Tidal disruption of inviscid protoplanets

Roche showed that equilibrium is impossible for a small fluid body synchronously orbiting a primary within a critical radius now termed the Roche limit. Tidal disruption of orbitally unbound bodies is a potentially important process for planetary formation through collisional accumulation, because the area of the Roche limit is considerably larger then the physical cross section of a protoplanet. Several previous studies were made of dynamical tidal disruption and different models of disruption were proposed. Because of the limitation of these analytical models, we have used a smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) code to model the tidal disruption process. The code is basically the same as the one used to model giant impacts; we simply choose impact parameters large enough to avoid collisions. The primary and secondary both have iron cores and silicate mantles, and are initially isothermal at a molten temperature. The conclusions based on the analytical and numerical models are summarized.

Boss, Alan P.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Effects of a giant impact on Uranus

The effects of a giant impact on Uranus with respect to the axis tilt of Uranus and its satellites are discussed. The simulations of possible giant impacts were carried out using Cray supercomputers. The technique used is called smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH). In this technique, the material in the proto-Uranus planet and in the impactor is divided into a large number of particles which can overlap one another so that local averages over these particles determine density and pressure in the problem, and the particles themselves have their own temperatures and internal energies. During the course of the simulation, these particles move around under the influence of the forces acting on them: gravity and pressure gradients. The results of model simulations are presented.

Slattery, W. L.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Dynamic mass exchange in doubly degenerate binaries. I - 0.9 and 1.2 solar mass stars

The dynamic mass exchange process in doubly degenerate binaries was investigated using a three-dimensional numerical simulation of the evolution of a doubly degenerate binary system in which the primary is a 1.2-solar-mass white dwarf and the Roche lobe filling secondary is a 0.9-solar-mass dwarf. The results show that, in a little more than two orbital periods, the secondary is completely destroyed and transformed into a thick disk orbiting about the primary. Since only a very small fraction of the mass (0.0063 solar mass) escapes the system, the evolution of the binary results in the formation of a massive object. This object is composed of three parts, the initial white dwarf primary, a very hot pressure-supported spherical envelope, and a rotationally supported outer disk. The evolution of the system can be understood in terms of a simple analytical model where it is shown that the angular momentum carried by the mass during the transfer and stored in the disk determines the evolution of the system.

Benz, W.↗

NASA NTRS1990

International cooperation for Mars exploration and sample return

The National Research Council's Space Studies Board has previously recommended that the next major phase of Mars exploration for the United States involve detailed in situ investigations of the surface of Mars and the return to earth for laboratory analysis of selected Martian surface samples. More recently, the European space science community has expressed general interest in the concept of cooperative Mars exploration and sample return. The USSR has now announced plans for a program of Mars exploration incorporating international cooperation. If the opportunity becomes available to participate in Mars exploration, interest is likely to emerge on the part of a number of other countries, such as Japan and Canada. The Space Studies Board's Committee on Cooperative Mars Exploration and Sample Return was asked by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to examine and report on the question of how Mars sample return missions might best be structured for effective implementation by NASA along with international partners. The committee examined alternatives ranging from scientific missions in which the United States would take a substantial lead, with international participation playing only an ancillary role, to missions in which international cooperation would be a basic part of the approach, with the international partners taking on comparably large mission responsibilities. On the basis of scientific strategies developed earlier by the Space Studies Board, the committee considered the scientific and technical basis of such collaboration and the most mutually beneficial arrangements for constructing successful cooperative missions, particularly with the USSR.

Levy, Eugene H.↗

NASA NTRS1989

The origin of the moon and the single impact hypothesis. III

Calculations of the single-impact hypothesis for the origin of the moon were performed using the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) code developed by Benz et al. (1986). Results are presented from calculations of a relatively low-level collision with an impactor mass in the range 6-8 x 10 to the 26th g. Several runs of the calculations are conducted for this mass range with variations in the SPH code, the equation of state, and the initial planetary models. The effects of these variations are compared. It is found that the orbiting mass is injected by gravitational torques.

Benz, W.↗

NASA NTRS1988

On convection-induced viscosity in accretion disks in cataclysmic variables

The vertical structure of accretion disks in cataclysmic variable systems is examined on the assumption that the convection is solely responsible for inducing the viscous heating. The viscous heating is distributed over the entire vertical structure so that purely radiative zones are able to carry a radial mass flux. The convective flux is computed by two different methods in separate calculations and the results from each method are compared. The values of the viscosity obtained are compared with those values inferred from the observed time scales of dwarf nova eruptions. Sequences of equilibrium solutions for constant radius and varying mass accretion rate are examined, the relations between viscosity and surface density are discussed in the context of recent models for the eruptions of dwarf novae.

Cannizzo, John K.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Collisional stripping of Mercury's mantle

A three-dimensional smoothed-particle hydrocode is the basis of the present numerical simulations of conditions under which a giant collision between a proto-Mercury and a planet one-sixth its size would lead to the loss of most of the silicate mantle of Mercury and thereby account for its anomalously high density. A head-on collision at 20 km/sec, and an off-axis impact parameter of half the radius of the proto-Mercury at 35 km/sec, are approximately equal in damage yielded; both will yield a remnant whose characteristics are those of the present Mercury.

Benz, Willy↗

NASA NTRS1988

The origin of the moon: Further studies of the giant impact

A number of technical improvements in the calculations which simulate the most violent event that has occurred to the earth during its history: its collision with the next largest body which was present in its region of accumulation in the early solar system, are discussed. This body was a planet in its own right, an object a little more massive than the planet Mars. The collision created a disk of molten and gaseous debris in orbit around the protoearth, and it is believed that the dissipation of this disk resulted in the formation of the moon. Also discussed is the serendipitous discovery that has emerged from the simulations: the role played by a huge, hot, rotating bar of rock and iron, which is formed immediately after the collision, in transferring angular momentum to much of the rock that is put into orbit, and in robbing the iron of angular momentum so that it falls promptly into the protoearth.

Benz, W.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Origin of the solar system

The current status of the classical model of solar-system formation is surveyed, reviewing the results of recent observational and theoretical investigations. Topics addressed include interstellar clouds, the collapse of interstellar gas, the primitive solar nebula, the formation of the sun, planetesimal accumulation, planetary accumulation, major planetary collisions, the development of planetary atmospheres, and comets. The relative merits of conflicting theories on many key problems are indicated, with reference to more detailed reviews in the literature.

Cameron, A. G. W.↗

NASA NTRS1988

The strange density of Mercury - Theoretical considerations

Two classes of models which have been advanced to explain the high density of Mercury are reviewed and contrasted. These models invoke either the differing volatilities of iron and silicates or disruptive collisions to fractionate the two phases. Also contrasted are equilibrium condensation and planetary vaporization models, both of which fall within the first broad class considered. Results indicate that equilibrium condensation models are unable to account for the observed high density of Mercury without invoking special mechanisms such as unrealistically narrow planetary accretion zones. However, it is found that distinctive chemical differences, which are potentially testable by spacecraft experiments, provide means for distinguishing between planetary vaporization and large impact scenarios.

Cameron, A. G. W.↗

NASA NTRS1987

A vaporization model for iron/silicate fractionation in the Mercury protoplanet

A study has been carried out on the vaporization of a totally molten silicate magma of chondritic composition heated into the range 2500-3500 K. The motivation for this was to determine the changes in the composition of the mantle that would occur in the Mercury protoplanet should that body have been subjected to the high-temperature phase in the evolution of the primitive solar nebula, but the results are of more general interest. An empirical model based on ideal mixing of complex components was used to describe the nonideal magma. It is found that vaporization of about 70-80 percent of the original amount of silicate from a chondritic planet is required to produce an iron-rich body with a mean uncompressed density equal to that deduced for Mercury. At this point the silicate is depleted in the alkalis, FeO, and SiO2, and enriched in CaO, MgO, Al2O3, and TiO2 relative to chondritic material.

Fegley, Bruce, Jr.↗