Thermal Conductivity Of Rubble Piles

Abstract

Rubble piles are a common feature of solar system bodies. They are composed of monolithic elements of ice or rock bound by gravity. Voids occupy a significant fraction of the volume of a rubble pile. They can exist up to pressure $P\approx \epsyμ$, where $\epsy$ is the monolithic material's yield strain and $μ$ its rigidity. At low $P$, contacts between neighboring elements are confined to a small fraction of their surface areas. As a result, the effective thermal conductivity of a rubble pile, $\kcon\approx k(P/(\epsyμ))^{1/2}$, can be orders of magnitude smaller than, $k$, the thermal conductivity of its monolithic elements. In a fluid-free environment, only radiation can transfer energy across voids. It contributes an additional component, $\krad=16\ellσT^3/3$, to the total effective conductivity, $\keff=\kcon +\krad$. Here $\ell$, the inverse of the opacity per unit volume, is of order the size of the elements and voids. An important distinction between $\kcon$ and $\krad$ is that the former is independent of the size of the elements whereas the latter is proportional to it. Our expression for $\keff$ provides a good fit to the depth dependence of thermal conductivity in the top $140\,\mathrm{cm}$ of the lunar regolith. It also offers a good starting point for detailed modeling of thermal inertias for asteroids and satellites. Measurement of the response of surface temperature to variable insolation is a valuable diagnostic of a regolith. There is an opportunity for careful experiments under controlled laboratory conditions to test models of thermal conductivity such as the one we outline.