Scientists have wanted to understand how a missile or a meteor might affect the ground underneath our feet apart from the obvious devastation these events cause above ground. 

A new study conducted by Duke University physicists involved developing new techniques using simulations of high speed impacts on artificial soil and sand inside the laboratory. Scientists then recorded these experiments in close-up and super slow motion.

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Researchers reveal that materials similar to soil and sand apparently become stronger when struck harder. The findings also show why ground penetrating missiles have only limited success when they are fired at high speeds. Projectiles are apparently prone to more resistance and stop sooner, especially when fired at increasing speeds.

The study was funded by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and aimed to achieve better control in the design of earth penetrating missiles meant to annihilate deeply buried underground targets similar to enemy bunkers or underground stockpiles of weapons.

To produce a simulation of a missile or meteor impact, researchers dropped a metal projectile with a round tip from a ceiling height of seven feet at a pit of beads. When it came to the moment of collision, the projectile's kinetic energy was immediately transferred into the beads and dissipated when the beads bumped into each other below the surface, causing the beads to absorb the force of the collision.

To observe these forces at the point of impact, researchers used clear plastic beads that transmitted light when compressed. Areas that revealed the greatest force from the impact showed chains of light branching out, an effect called "force chains" that are transferred from one bead to the next, similar to lightning.

During low speeds, the network of beads carries more force but when compared to high-speed projectiles, the force chains grow more extensive and the impact energy is dispersed away from the target faster, said co-author of the study Robert Behringer.

This study was published in the journal, Physical Review Letters.

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