Shock Wave and High Pressure Phenomena

B.E. Gelfand et al., Thermo-Gas Dynamics of Hydrogen Combustion and Explosion, Shock Wave and High Pressure Phenomena,... 

L.E. Murr, Effects of Peak Pressure, Pulse Duration, and Repeated Loading on the Residual Structure and Properties of Shock Deformed Metals and Alloys, in Shock Waves and High-Strain-Rate Phenomena in Metals (edited by M.A. Meyers and L.E. Murr), Plenum, New York, 1981, 753 pp. 

Some wave phenomena, familiar to many people from the human senses, include the easy undulation of water waves from a dropped stone or the sharp shock of the sonic boom from high-speed aircraft. The great power and energy of shock events is apparent to the human observer as he stands on the rim of the Meteor Crater of Arizona. Human senses provide little insight into the transition from these directly sensed phenomena to the high-pressure, shock-compression effects in solids. This transition must come from development of the science of shock compression, based on the usual methods of scientific experimentation, theoretical modeling, and numerical simulation. 

Shock-wave phenomena are important in meteorite impacts where high-pressure minerals are often formed. Small diamonds useful for lapping and polishing are made commercially by shocking graphite mixed with iron and copper. The metals cool the diamonds before they can transform back to graphite on pressure release. 

Under high vacuum conditions, i.e., pressure p < 10 2 mbar, the material transfer can be described using Monte Carlo simulations. Usually, inelastic collisions and collective phenomena as shock waves cannot be considered here. The so called Direct Simulation Monte Carlo method allows extension to slightly higher gas pressures. 

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