ABSTRACT
Results of recent geotechnical centrifuge experiments have dramatically reduced the size estimates for craters formed by near-surface large-yield nuclear explosions and by planetary impact of large bolides. Since neither phenomenon can be tested at full scale, centrifuge simulation is the only alternative for obtaining an experimental data base. Estimates of crater size were reduced due to the identification of a strength-gravity transition size, above which cratering efficiency decreases with size. Existing field data were too sparse and were conducted in far too diverse media to observe this pattern, the geotechnical centrifuge has been a valuable experimental technique for investigating explosive and impact cratering behaviour. The following gives a brief summary of recent experiments and a pertinent bibliography. These works establish the practicality of performing dynamic experiments on the centrifuge, as well as providing a theoretical basis for their interpretation.
