Metal-Silicate Segregation During Planetary Accretion: Limited Iron Emulsification through intermediate Impacts
In this study, we investigate the post-collisional evolution of an impactor's iron core within a fully molten magma ocean using 2D numerical simulations with a novel Rothmann-Keller multiphase Lattice Boltzmann Method. The impactor's core diameter ranges from $152\;\text{km}$ to $552\;\text{km}$, with aspect ratios from $0.75$ to $5$. At Reynolds numbers up to $10^4$, our models reveal significant deformation and progressive fragmentation of the impactor into an iron cloud down to the smallest scale (several kilometers) that our method allows, which is then dispersed throughout the magma ocean by turbulent flow. We determined entrainment coefficients for a range of intermediate impactor sizes with various shapes, finding that larger impactors consistently exhibit higher entrainment coefficients. By extrapolating our mixing data, we anticipate incomplete iron-silicate mixing for kilometer-scale impactors in a real magma ocean, qualitatively consistent with previous predictions of partial equilibration. Additionally, our models highlight the mid- to lower magma ocean depths as critical zones for further iron fragment breakups and material transfer in the magma ocean.