Numerical simulations of oblique impact crater formation

Gareth Collins

(Natural Environment Research Fellow, Imperial College, London)

Current understanding of impact cratering is based, in large part, on numerical models and experiments where the impactor strikes perpendicular to the target surface. In reality, such events are extremely unlikely to occur; the most common impact angle is 45° to the target plane and over 90% of all impacts are oblique (<70°). It is therefore vital to understand how craters formed by oblique impacts differ from those formed by vertical impacts. In this talk I will discuss the influence of impact angle on crater size and shape based on insight from oblique impact simulations, using iSALE3D, and laboratory experiments.

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