The orbit properties of colliding co-orbiting bodies

It is generally assumed that an ensemble of small bodies located in similar Keplarian orbits will, because of collisions, tend to disperse into more and more dissimilar orbits. For example, it is thought that the asteroids may represent the remnants of a few larger bodies that broke up or failed to fully accrete. A proposed experiment using the space station consists of an ensemble of small bodies or particles released gently from a central location in a large chamber, much like the breaking of billiard balls. The particles would them co-orbit and occasionally collide. Their subsequent behavior could be monitored by several video recorders, their linear and angular velocities before and after collision calculated, and their general behavior studied. This experiment could yield results of fundamental importance for theories of the origin of the planets, asteroids, comets, and probably ring systems.