Melt-driven erosion in microparticle impact

Impact-induced erosion is the ablation of matter caused by being physically struck by another object. While this phenomenon is known, it is empirically challenging to study mechanistically because of the short timescales and small length scales involved. Here, we resolve supersonic impact erosion in situ with micrometer- and nanosecond-level spatiotemporal resolution. We show, in real time, how metallic microparticles (~10-μm) cross from the regimes of rebound and bonding to the more extreme regime that involves erosion. We find that erosion in normal impact of ductile metallic materials is melt-driven, and establish a mechanistic framework to predict the erosion velocity.