Sticking experiment between glass beads + silicon oil mixtures: dependence on grain size

Abstract

Sticking of dust aggregates is a crucial process in the formation ofplanetesimals. In the relevant temperature conditions, dust grains arethe mixture of silicates and organics. I performed an impact experimentusing the mixture of glass beads and silicon oil to determine thedependence of stickiness on the size of the glass beads. It was foundthat the stickiness of the mixture with 0.9 micron sized glass beads islarger than that with 100 micron one. This is probably due to thesmoothness of the surface of the mixture.