Hypervelocity is very high
velocity, approximately over 3,000
meters per second (6,700 mph, 11,000 km/h, 10,000 ft/s, or
Mach 8.8). In particular, hypervelocity is velocity so high that the strength of materials upon impact is very small compared to
inertial stresses. Thus, even
metals behave like
fluids under hypervelocity impact. Extreme hypervelocity results in
vaporization of the
impactor and target. For structural metals, hypervelocity is generally considered to be over 2,500 m/s (5,600 mph, 9,000 km/h, 8,200 ft/s, or Mach 7.3).
Meteorite craters are also examples of hypervelocity impacts.