Table 1
Summary of the tensile strength (σT), shear strength (σS), and compressive strength (σC) for cometary materials, including our own estimates.
| Reference | Method | Value (Pa) | Scale | Value (Pa) |
| at 1 m scale | ||||
|
|
||||
| Tensile strength ( σT) | ||||
| Klinger et al. (1989) | Observations (sungrazing comets) | 100 | 1 m | 100 |
| Davidsson (2001) | Observations (rotational breakup) | 1−53 | 1 m | 1−53 |
| Asphaug & Benz (1996) | Observations (D/1993 F2 SL9) | 5 | 1 m | 5 |
| Blum et al. (2006) | Laboratory experiments | 200−1100 | 1 cm | 13−69 |
| Bar-Nun et al. (2007) | Laboratory experiments | 2000−4000 | 100 μm | 8−16 |
| Blum et al. (2014) | Laboratory experiments | 1 | 1 mm | 0.02 |
| Biele et al. (2009) | Modelling | 5000 | 10 μm | 5 |
| Greenberg et al. (1995) | Modelling | 270 | 10 μm | 0.3 |
| This work | Observations (67P, Rosetta) | |||
| – Collapsed structures | <150 | 30 m | <1150 | |
| – Overhangs | 3−15 | 5 m | 8−39 | |
|
|
||||
| Shear strength ( σS) | ||||
| Holsapple & Housen (2007) | Observations (9P, Deep Impact) | 0−12 000 | 1 m | 0−12 000 |
| A’Hearn et al. (2005) | Observations (9P, Deep Impact) | 65 | 1 m | 65 |
| This work | Observations (67P, Rosetta) | |||
| – Hathor cliffs | >30 | 900 m | >1770 | |
| – Fine surface materials and boulders | 4−30 | 1 m | 4−30 | |
|
|
||||
| Compressive strength ( σC) | ||||
| Jessberger & Kotthaus (1989) | Laboratory experiments | 30 000−1 000 000 | 1 cm | 1 890−63 100 |
| Bar-Nun et al. (2007) | Laboratory experiments | 20 000 | 100 μm | 80 |
| Güttler et al. (2009) | Laboratory experiments | <1000 | 1 mm | 16 |
| Blum et al. (2014) | Laboratory experiments | 15 | 1 mm | 0.2 |
| Sirono & Greenberg (2000) | Modelling | 6500 | 10 μm | 7 |
| This work | Observations (67P, Rosetta) | |||
| – Fine surface materials | <15 600 | 10 cm | <3920 | |
| – Collapsed structures | <1500 | 30 m | <11 600 | |
| – Overhangs | 30−150 | 5 m | 79−394 | |
Notes. The list is not exhaustive, but representative of values found in the literature. We scaled each value to the meter scale using a power law with an exponent equal to –0.6 (Sect. 1). This scaling should be taken with caution since consolidated and unconsolidated materials may not follow the same scaling law.
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