The stratification of regolith on celestial objects

TL;DR

This study investigates how gravity influences the packing density of regolith on celestial bodies through experiments and develops a model to predict stratification and mechanical properties relevant for space exploration.

Contribution

It provides new experimental data on regolith packing under varying gravity levels and introduces an analytical model for regolith stratification on celestial objects.

Findings

Gravity affects regolith packing density significantly.

Experimental data supports the development of a predictive stratification model.

Model estimates mechanical yields for astronauts and spacecraft on different celestial surfaces.

Abstract

All atmosphere-less planetary bodies are covered with a dust layer, the so-called regolith, which determines the optical, mechanical and thermal properties of their surface. These properties depend on the regolith material, the size distribution of the particles it consists of, and the porosity to which these particles are packed. We performed experiments in parabolic flights to determine the gravity dependency of the packing density of regolith for solid-particle sizes of 60 $\mu$m and 1 mm as well as for 100-250 $\mu$m-sized agglomerates of 1.5 $\mu$m-sized solid grains. We utilized g-levels between 0.7 m s$^{-2}$ and 18 m s$^{-2}$ and completed our measurements with experiments under normal gravity conditions. Based on previous experimental and theoretical literature and supported by our new experiments, we developed an analytical model to calculate the regolith stratification of celestial rocky and icy bodies and estimated the mechanical yields of the regolith under the weight of an astronaut and a spacecraft resting on these objects.