Asymmetry of ejecta flow during oblique impacts using three-dimensional particle image velocimetry

Three‐dimensional particle image velocimetry (3D PIV) applied to impact cratering experiments allows the direct measurement of ejecta particle positions and velocities within the ejecta curtain as the crater grows. Laboratory experiments were performed at the NASA Ames Vertical Gun Range with impact velocities near 1 km/s (6.35‐mm diameter aluminum spheres) into a medium‐grained (0.5 mm) particulate sand target in a vacuum at 90° and 30° from the horizontal. This study examines the first 50% of crater growth, during which the crater has grown to one half its final radius. From the 3D PIV data, the ballistic trajectories of the ejecta particles are extrapolated back to the target surface to determine ejection velocities, angles, and positions. For vertical impacts these ejection parameters remain constant in all directions (azimuths) around the crater center. The 30° impacts exhibit asymmetries with respect to azimuth that persist well into the excavation‐stage flow. These asymmetries indicate that a single stationary point source is not adequate to describe the subsurface flow field during an oblique impact.