Mechanical characterization and brittle failure of the stony meteorite, aba panu (L3), using digital image correlation

Because meteorites can provide valuable insight into the mechanical properties of asteroids, it is important to characterize meteorites and understand and model their mechanical response and failure behavior. In this study, the Aba Panu (L3) meteorite was investigated using uniaxial compression tests along with an in-situ full-field 3D digital image correlation (DIC) system. The DIC system enabled the capture of strain evolution during mechanical testing to determine elastic modulus and to examine crack initiation sites and failure modes. Samples were cut from an Aba Panu stone to characterize the microstructural and mechanical properties. Density and porosity were measured before the quasi-static compression testing. Phase size and distribution for different chondrules and minerals were calculated from the electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA) data. Under a compressive state of stress, Aba Panu meteorite samples failed at an average compressive strength of 438.4 MPa with a standard deviation of 77.5 MPa. DIC analysis of displacement and strain fields located the region of maximum deformation and identified crack initiation sites and axial splitting as a key brittle failure mode. Microstructural characterization results were used to construct a simple microstructure-based representative volume element (RVE) to model the mechanical response using Dream 3D software. The results of the finite element (FE) analysis were confirmed using DIC measurements.