  Invariant cross sections of intermediate mass fragments in peripheral
collisions of Au on Au at incident energies between 40 and 150 AMeV have been
measured with the 4-pi multi-detector INDRA. The maximum of the fragment
production is located near mid-rapidity at the lower energies and moves
gradually towards the projectile and target rapidities as the energy is
increased. Schematic calculations within an extended Goldhaber model suggest
that the observed cross-section distributions and their evolution with energy
are predominantly the result of the clustering requirement for the emerging
fragments and of their Coulomb repulsion from the projectile and target
residues. The quantitative comparison with transverse energy spectra and
fragment charge distributions emphasizes the role of hard scattered nucleons in
the fragmentation process.
