Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 23, 2026

Laboratory Drop Towers for the Experimental Simulation of Dust-aggregate Collisions in the Early Solar System
Published on: June 5, 2014
Simulation of cohesive head-on collisions of thermally activated nanoclusters
Hiroto Kuninaka1, Hisao Hayakawa
1Department of Physics, Chuo University, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan, 112-8551. kuninaka@phys.chuo-u.ac.jp
Abstract:
Impact phenomena of nanoclusters subject to thermal fluctuations are numerically investigated. From the molecular dynamics simulation for colliding two identical clusters, it is found that the restitution coefficient for head-on collisions has a peak at a colliding speed due to the competition between the cohesive interaction and the repulsive interaction of colliding clusters. Some aspects of the collisions can be understood by the theory of Brilliantov [Phys. Rev. E 76, 051302 (2007)], but many aspects are found from the simulation. In particular, we find that there are some anomalous rebounds in which the restitution coefficient is larger than unity. The phase diagrams of rebound processes against impact speed and the cohesive parameter can be understood by a simple phenomenology.
Related Concept Videos
Basic Postulates of Kinetic Molecular Theory: Particle Size, Energy, and Collision
Mechanisms of Heat Transfer II
Phase Transitions: Vaporization and Condensation
Mechanisms of Heat Transfer I

