A New Model for the Separation of Meteoroid Fragments in the Atmosphere

This work is devoted to modeling of the transverse scattering of meteoroid fragments in the atmosphere by adopting supersonic gas dynamics around a system of bodies. Artem’eva and Shuvalov (1996, Shock Waves, 367) and Zhdan et al. (2004, Dokl. Phys., 315–317) found that the transverse force decreases with the increase of the distance between fragments, that is, fragments do not separate in a transverse direction under the action of constant repulsion force. This work on the decreasing transverse force uses the values of the transverse force coefficient by Zhdan et al. (2004, Dokl. Phys., 315–317) obtained from numerical modeling for spheres in a supersonic flow to derive the analytical solution of the dynamic equation for a fragment. The new model of layer-by-layer scattering of meteoroid fragments moving as a system of bodies is constructed on the basis of the analytical solutions derived in this work and the numerical data by Zhdan et al. (2005, Dokl. Phys., 514–518).