Abstract
By decoupling time and length scales in moving window molecular dynamics shock-wave simulations, a new regime of shock-wave propagation is uncovered characterized by a two-zone elastic-plastic shock-wave structure consisting of a leading elastic front followed by a plastic front, both moving with the same average speed and having a fixed net thickness that can extend to microns. The material in the elastic zone is in a metastable state that supports a pressure that can substantially exceed the critical pressure characteristic of the onset of the well-known split-elastic-plastic, two-wave propagation. The two-zone elastic-plastic wave is a general phenomenon observed in simulations of a broad class of crystalline materials and is within the reach of current experimental techniques.
- Received 22 June 2011
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.135502
© 2011 American Physical Society
Synopsis
Doubly Shocked
Published 22 September 2011
Shock waves in solids can propagate as a single structure made up of two zones with different mechanical properties.
See more in Physics