A model for the aerodynamic coefficients of rock-like debris

This study presents a model to determine the aerodynamic forces on an irregularly shaped object for prediction of trajectories of debris. We classify the debris according to shape and use wind tunnel tests to create a database of aerodynamic forces of similarly sized objects. We have then validated the database results against wind tunnel measurements of aerodynamic coefficients of rock-like debris objects. Although the individual errors may be significant, the results show a generally good agreement with our model prediction and a small average error. (C) 2018 Academie des sciences. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.