Shocks and high velocity deformation

Abstract

The shock Hugoniot curves of a large number of materials up to a few Mbar have been obtained experimentally. Metallurgical examination and physical measurements on metallic and other samples recovered after shock loading up to several 100 kbar indicate the existence of large concentrations of point, line and planar defects. Dislocation mechanisms have been invoked to explain shock wave propagation and the phenomena related to the quick homogenisation of stress and strain behind the shock front. Computer simulation models using molecular dynamics calculations have also been used to understand some aspects of shock wave propagation at an atomistic level. For very strong shocks, the material is expected to melt under shock heating, but the experimental evidence regarding this is inconclusive. A combination of shock temperature measurement and theory may be able to answer this question.