Low-speed impact craters in loose granular media

Abstract

We report on craters formed by balls dropped into dry, non-cohesive, granular media. By explicit variation of ball density $ρ_{b}$, diameter $D_{b}$, and drop height $H$, the crater diameter is confirmed to scale as the 1/4 power of the energy of the ball at impact: $D_{c}\sim(ρ_{b}{D_{b}}^{3}H)^{1/4}$. Against expectation, a different scaling law is discovered for the crater depth: $d\sim({ρ_{b}}^{3/2}{D_{b}}^{2}H)^{1/3}$. The scaling with properties of the medium is also established. The crater depth has significance for granular mechanics in that it relates to the stopping force on the ball.