Shock compression science

Proceedings of the biannual Conference of the American Physical Society Topical Group on Shock Compression Science, the most recent of which is ... 

Under what circumstances are shock-compression events encountered, and what is shock-compression science ... 

When an isotropic material is subjected to planar shock compression, it experiences a relatively large compressive strain in the direction of the shock propagation, but zero strain in the two lateral directions. Any real planar shock has a limited lateral extent, of course. Nevertheless, the finite lateral dimensions can affect the uniaxial strain nature of a planar shock only after the edge effects have had time to propagate from a lateral boundary to the point in question. Edge effects travel at the speed of sound in the compressed material. Measurements taken before the arrival of edge effects are the same as if the lateral dimensions were infinite, and such early measurements are crucial to shock-compression science. It is the independence of lateral dimensions which so greatly simplifies the translation of planar shock-wave experimental data into fundamental material property information. 

Measurements from stress gauges, assuming equal accuracy and time resolution, are equivalent to measurements from particle velocity gauges in exploring a material s equation of state. Both piezoresistive and piezoelectric techniques have been used extensively in shock-compression science. 

Shock-compression science originated during and after World War II when experimental facilities for creating planar shock waves were developed, along with prompt instrumentation techniques enabling shock velocity and particle velocity measurements to be made. The main thrust of shock-compression science is to understand the physics and to measure the material properties which govern the outcome of shock-compression events. Experiments involving planar shock waves are the most useful in shock-compression science. 

The book is intended to provide a foundation for the senior-level or first-year graduate student interested in shock-compression science, and to expose the student to the basic experimental, theoretical, and numerical tools prevailing in the field. Students should find the introductory material presented to be useful in preparation for more advanced studies of shock compression. Several problems are also presented with the different chapters to aid the student in understanding the material presented. Those interested in pursuing this field are encouraged to understand these problems in depth. 

In this chapter the scope of the subject the fluidlike deformation of shock-compressed solids modeling the shock as benign or catastrophic the origins of shock-compression science the pressure scale of events the plan of the present work. 

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 shock-compression science the scientific interest is not so much in the study of waves themselves but in the use of the waves as a means to probe solid materials. As inertial responses to the loading, the waves contain detailed information describing the mechanical, physical, and chemical properties and processes in the unusual states encountered. Physical and chemical changes may be probed further with optical, electrical, or magnetic measurements, but the behaviors are intimately intertwined with the mechanical aspects of the waves. 

We can be qualitatively certain that the fluidlike flow of shock deformation is a consequence of motion of defects. We cannot be quantitatively certain as to the significant, detailed descriptions and consequences of these defects. Indeed, the principal unfinished business of shock-compression science is the scientific description of the defective solid in all its manifestations. 

The fluid mechanics origins of shock-compression science are reflected in the early literature, which builds upon fluid mechanics concepts and is more concerned with basic issues of wave propagation than solid state materials properties. Indeed, mechanical wave measurements, upon which much of shock-compression science is built, give no direct information on defects. This fluids bias has led to a situation in which there appears to be no published terse description of shock-compressed solids comparable to Kormer s for the perfect lattice. Davison and Graham described the situation as an elastic fluid approximation. A description of shock-compressed solids in terms of the benign shock paradigm might perhaps be stated as ... 

The difficulties in dealing with these fundamental solid behaviors were aptly characterized as the metallurgical mud by Walsh and Taylor [84T01]. It has proven to be a difficult task to extricate shock-compression science from the metallurgical mud. Mixing of chemical ooze into the metallurgical mud has now further clouded our scientific knowledge of the processes. 

Use of terms such as shock-compression science, or shock-compression processes casts such a broad net that little technical communication is accomplished. Within the overall framework of interest in materials under... 

There are numerous reviews of the various aspects of shock-compression science a large number of the references were collected and summarized in Davison and Graham [79D01]. Those general reviews summarized in Table 1.1 provide an extensive source of concepts and data on materials response, and the serious student should study them carefully. 

Perhaps of more interest are also numerous reviews of specialized topical areas within shock-compression science as tabulated in Table 1.2. These specialized reviews contain much detailed information on the topics under con-... 

Table 1.1. General reviews of shock-compression science (after Davison and Graham [79D01]).

The foundation of shock-compression science is based upon observations and analyses of the mechanical responses of solid samples to shock-loading pulses. Although the resulting mechanical framework is necessary, there is no reason to believe that a sufficiently complete scientific picture can be based on mechanical considerations alone. Nevertheless, the base of our knowledge rests here, and it is essential to recognize its characteristics, and critically examine the work. 

The elastic-shock region is characterized by a single, narrow shock front that carries the material from an initial state to a stress less than the elastic limit. After a quiescent period controlled by the loading and material properties, the unloading wave smoothly reduces the stress to atmospheric pressure over a time controlled by the speeds of release waves at the finite strains of the loading. Even though experiments in shock-compression science are typically... 

It has been a persistent characteristic of shock-compression science that the first-order picture of the processes yields readily to solution whereas second-order descriptions fail to confirm material models. For example, the high-pressure, pressure-volume relations and equation-of-state data yield pressure values close to that expected at a given volume compression. Mechanical yielding behavior is observed to follow behaviors that can be modeled on concepts developed to describe solids under less severe loadings. Phase transformations are observed to occur at pressures reasonably close to those obtained in static compression. 

Perhaps the most substantial change to occur in shock-compression science technology since the 1960s is the widespread use of smooth bore guns to propel projectiles to preselected velocities and impact them upon samples... 

The precise impact experiment offers both versatility and the highest of precision. In typical experiments, the projectile is faced with an impactor that is either the same material as the sample to be impacted or a standard material whose properties are known and reproducible. In a symmetric impact configuration the impactor and sample are the same upon impact, precisely one-half of the impact velocity is imparted to the sample. As the impact velocity can be readily measured to an accuracy of 0.1%, this condition provides the most accurately known and best characterized condition achieved in shock-compression science. 

Over the 40-yr history of shock-compression science, numerous physical phenomena have been considered for use in detecting wave profiles. Few of the devices have actually been used for a significant and persistent study. Part of this history is connected to the difficulty in actually developing a credible... 

Fig. 4.2. The technique used to study the piezoelectric behavior of the crystals quartz and lithium niobate used controlled, precise impact loading. The impact velocity can be measured to an accuracy of 0.1%, leading to the most precisely known condition in shock-compression science (after Davison and Graham [79D01]).

The shock-compression induced structural phase transformation in iron from the low pressure bcc phase to the high pressure hep phase is one of the most visible problems studied in shock-compression science, and its discovery was responsible for widespread recognition of the capabilities of the high pressure shock-compression experiment. The properties of many shock-induced phase transitions are summarized in Duvall and Graham [77D01]. 

At present, the principal thrust of shock-induced solid state chemistry rests upon preservation of samples that have been subjected to controlled, quantitative, reproducible shock loading. Such an endeavor must, of necessity, involve close, cooperative efforts between materials communities, including solid state physics, materials science, and shock-compression science. 

This book has certainty not included all observations of solid state physical and chemical processes that have been carried out over the past 40-yr history of shock compression science, but has necessarily emphasized those studies in which the author has made significant contributions. Other independent studies reinforce these observations. 

Shock-induced solid state chemistry represents the most complex fundamental problem ever encountered in shock-compression science. All the mechanical and physical complications of other work are present, yet the additional chemical complications are added. Indeed, all mechanical, physical, and chemical aspects of the problem are intimately intertwined. Chemical investigations promise to provide a description of shock compression that differs considerably from that to which we have become accustomed. Nevertheless, a full description of the process requires contributions from a number... 

There is a view developing concerning the accomplishments of shock-compression science that the initial questions posed by the pioneers in the field have been answered to a significant degree. Indeed, the progress in technology and description of the process is impressive by any standard. Impressive instrumentation has been developed. Continuum models of materials behavior have been elaborated. Techniques for numerical simulation have been developed in depth. 

Surely, it is now time to reformulate the questions considered to be fundamental to shock-compression science. The questions must consider shock-compressed matter as it exists as a highly defective solid, heterogeneous in character, with significant anisotropic components and heterogeneous processes that are not in thermodynamic equilibrium. 

It is appropriate today for those interested in shock-compression science to recognize the situation posed by the eminent Swedish solid state chemist, J. Arvid Hedvall, who called attention to the situation of the hypnotic power of mental habitudes [66H01]. 

Shock-compression science, which has developed and matured since its inception in 1955. has never before been documented in book form. Over this period, shock-compression research has provided numerous major contributions to scientific and industrial technology. As a result, our knowledge of geophysics, planetary physics, and astrophysics has substantially improved, and shock processes have become standard industrial methods in materials synthesis and processing. Characterizations of shock-compressed matter have been broadened and enriched with involvements of the fields of physics, electrical engineering, solid mechanics, metallurgy, geophysics, and materials science... 

The description of shock-compressed matter derived from physical and chemical observations, as presented in this book, is significantly different from that denved strictly from mechanical characteristics, which are the classical descriptions. This volume, with over 300 references and summaries of major review articles, provides a succinct introduction and critical analysis for scientists and engineers interested in the present state of shock-compression science. 

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