Particle-gas dynamics in the midplane of a protoplanetary nebula
J. N. Cuzzi, A. R. Dobrovolskis, J. M. Champney;
Icar, 1993, 106, 102
ABSTRACT:In the planetary-formation stage during which particulate material is dispersed in cm-to-m primordial aggregates, particles can settle
toward the midplane, forming a layer whose mass density is far greater than
that of the gas; it is in this environment that the earliest planetesimals
may form.
The present numerical models for this planetary formation
stage rely on the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations for the gas and
particles, and are viscous and turbulent.
It is established that the rapid
accretion of planetesimals by gravitationally unstable fragmentation on an
orbital timescale will not occur until objects have already accreted to the
mass of the largest extant meteorite samples, through some other process.
KEYWORDS: gas dynamics, protoplanets, planetary evolution, particle size distribution, turbulence models, nebulae, navier-stokes equation, parameterization, viscous flow, turbulent flow, equations of motion
PERSOKEY:dust, size distribution, ,
CODE: cuzzi93