Fragment properties from large-scale asteroid collisions: I: Results from SPH/N-body simulations using porous parent bodies and improved material models

Understanding the collisional fragmentation and subsequent reaccumulation of fragments is crucial for studies of the formation and evolution of the small-body populations. Using an SPH / N-body approach, we investigate the size-frequency distributions (SFDs) resulting from the disruption of 100 km-diameter targets consisting of porous material, including the effects of pore-crushing as well as friction. Overall, the porous targets have a significantly higher impact strength (Q*D) than the rubble-pile parent bodies investigated previously (Benavidez et al., 2012) and show a behavior more similar to non-porous monolithic targets (Durda et al., 2007). Our results also confirm that for a given specific impact energy, the SFDs resulting from a parent body disruption are strongly dependent on the size scale.