Modern Optical Methods for Determining the Shock Hugoniot of Transparent Solids

Introduction

Shock waves are sharp discontinuities in pressure, density, and internal energy in any continuous material. They can result from a localized rapid release of energy, as in an explosion, or from high-velocity impacts. Knowledge of material shock behavior is critical for the design of systems which may be subjected to explosive or projectile loading, e.g., infantry helmets, ship hulls, building facades, etc. This behavior is defined by the Rankine-Hugoniot equations, which represent conservation of mass, momentum, and energy across a shock wave. These equations define a locus of possible pressure-density-energy states that a material may attain across a shock wave.