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Thermal stresses in small meteoroids

Publication at Faculty of Mathematics and Physics |
2010

Abstract

We evaluate thermal stresses in small, spherical, and homogeneous meteoroids with elastic rheology and regular rotation. The temperature variations are caused by the absorbed sunlight energy being conducted into the interior layers of the body.

We find large, centimeter- to meter-size, slowly rotating meteoroids or those with a spin axis pointing towards the Sun or both, are the most susceptible to the thermal bursting.