Shock Compression of Solids

Solid substances are forced into unusual and distinctive conditions when subjected to powerful releases of energy such that their inertial properties result in the propagation of high pressure mechanical waves within the solid body. The very high stress, microsecond-duration, conditions irreversibly force materials into states not fully encountered in any other excitation. It is the study of solids under this unique compression-and-release process that provides the scientific and technological interest in shock-compression science. 

In extreme cases, very high pressure waves are encountered in which the time to achieve peak pressure may be less than one nanosecond. Study of solids under the influence of these high pressure shock waves can be the source of information on high pressure equations of states of solids within the framework of specific assumptions, and of mechanical, physical, and chemical properties under unusually high pressure. 

Unlike gases and liquids, the temperatures induced by the rapid loading of solids can be relatively modest. Only at pressures greater than many tens of gigapascal (GPa) are the temperatures of major importance in solid density samples. In porous solid compacts, significantly higher temperatures may be encountered, but, even in this case at lower pressures, mechanical rather than thermal effects may often be dominant. 

Powerful sources of energy are required to produce the transient high pressures. These include chemical energy from the detonation of high explo- 

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Asay J R and Shahinpour M (eds) 1993 High-Pressure Shock Compression of Solids (New York Springer) Bridgman P W 1958 The Physics of High Pressure (London G Beii and Sons)... 

Introduction to High-Pressure Shock Compression of Solids... 

At the present time, it is still necessary to study various review articles to develop a perspective and depth into the status of the work on shock compression of solids. Fortunately, there are a number of readily accessible reviews, which collect and analyze a good portion of the work in the field. Table 1.2 lists those review articles that provide a broad coverage of the field. 

In this chapter we introduced the concept of shock waves, ignoring the features that distinguish solids from fluids. The properties include shear strength, polymorphic phase transformations, heterogeneous structure, anisotropy, and viscoplastic behavior. These topics make up the majority of the subject of shock compression of solids, and form a large portion of the rest of this book. 

L. Davison and R.A. Graham, Shock Compression of Solids, Phys. Rep. 55, 255 (1979). D.G. Doran and R.K. Linde, Shock Effects in Solids, in Solid State Physics, Vol. 19... 

An example of research in the micromechanics of shock compression of solids is the study of rate-dependent plasticity and its relationship to crystal structure, crystal orientation, and the fundamental unit of plasticity, the dislocation. The majority of data on high-rate plastic flow in shock-compressed solids is in the form of ... 

Micromechanical Considerations in Shock Compression of Solids 253 From p = Gb/R... 

R.A. Graham, Shock Compression of Solids as a Physical-Chemical-Mechanical Process, in Shock-Waves in Condensed Matter—1987 (edited by S.C. Schmidt and N.C. Holmes), Elsevier Science, Amsterdam, 1988, pp. 11-18. 

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