The high-pressure melting curve of tantalum (Ta) has been the center of a long-standing controversy. Sound velocities along the Hugoniot curve are expected to help in understanding this issue. To that end, we employed a direct-reverse impact technique and velocity interferometry to determine sound velocities of Ta under shock compression in the 10-110 GPa pressure range. The measured longitudinal sound velocities show an obvious kink at ~60 GPa as a function of shock pressure, while the bulk sound velocities show no discontinuity. Such observation could result from a structural transformation associated with a negligible volume change or an electronic topological transition.
Wehrenberg et. al. [Nature 550 496 (2017)] used ultrafast in situ x-ray diffraction at the LCLS x-ray free-electron laser facility to measure large lattice rotations resulting from slip and deformation twinning in shock-compressed laser-driven [110] fibre textured tantalum polycrystal. We employ a crystal plasticity finite element method model, with slip kinetics based closely on the isotropic dislocation-based Livermore Multiscale Model [Barton et. al., J. Appl. Phys. 109 (2011)], to analyse this experiment. We elucidate the link between the degree of lattice rotation and the kinetics of plasticity, demonstrating that a transition occurs at shock pressures of $sim$27 GPa, between a regime of relatively slow kinetics, resulting in a balanced pattern of slip system activation and therefore relatively small net lattice rotation, and a regime of fast kinetics, due to the onset of nucleation, resulting in a lop-sided pattern of deformation-system activation and therefore large net lattice rotations. We demonstrate a good fit between this model and experimental x-ray diffraction data of lattice rotation, and show that this data is constraining of deformation kinetics.
Ultrafast acoustics measurements on liquid mercury have been performed at high pressure and temperature in diamond anvils cell using picosecond acoustic interferometry. We extract the density of mercury from adiabatic sound velocities using a numerical iterative procedure. The pressure and temperature dependence of the thermal expansion, the isothermal compressibilty, the isothermal bulk modulus and its pressure derivative are derived up to 7 GPa and 520 K. In the high pressure regime, the sound velocity values, at a given density, are shown to be only slightly dependent on the specific temperature and pressure conditions. The density dependence of sound velocity at low density is consistent with that observed with our data at high density in the metallic liquid state.
Boron carbide is a ceramic material with unique properties widely used in numerous, including armor, applications. Its mechanical properties, mechanism of compression, and limits of stability are of both scientific and practical value. Here, we report the behavior of the stoichiometric boron carbide B13C2 studied on single crystals up to 68 GPa. As revealed by synchrotron X-ray diffraction, B13C2 maintains its crystal structure and does not undergo phase transitions. Accurate measurements of the unit cell and B12 icosahedra volumes as a function of pressure led to conclusion that they reduce similarly upon compression that is typical for covalently bonded solids. A comparison of the compressional behavior of B13C2 with that of alpha-B, gamma-B, and B4C showed that it is determined by the types of bonding involved in the course of compression. Neither molecular-like nor inversed-molecular-like solid behavior upon compression was detected that closes a long-standing scientific dispute.
We present a combined theoretical and experimental study of the high-pressure behavior of thallium. X-ray diffraction experiments have been carried out at room temperature up to 125 GPa using diamond-anvil cells, nearly doubling the pressure range of previous experiments. We have confirmed the hcp-fcc transition at 3.5 GPa and determined that the fcc structure remains stable up to the highest pressure attained in the experiments. In addition, HP-HT experiments have been performed up to 8 GPa and 700 K by using a combination of x-ray diffraction and a resistively heated diamond-anvil cell. Information on the phase boundaries is obtained, as well as crystallographic information on the HT bcc phase. The equation of state for different phases is reported. Ab initio calculations have also been carried out considering several potential high-pressure structures. They are consistent with the experimental results and predict that, among the structures considered in the calculations, the fcc structure of thallium is stable up to 4.3 TPa. Calculations also predict the post-fcc phase to have a close-packed orthorhombic structure above 4.3 TPa.
We derive expressions for shock formation based on the local curvature of the flow characteristics during dynamic compression. Given a specific ramp adiabat, calculated for instance from the equation of state for a substance, the ideal nonlinear shape for an applied ramp loading history can be determined. We discuss the region affected by lateral release, which can be presented in compact form for the ideal loading history. Example calculations are given for representative metals and plastic ablators. Continuum dynamics (hydrocode) simulations were in good agreement with the algebraic forms. Example applications are presented for several classes of laser-loading experiment, identifying conditions where shocks are desired but not formed, and where long duration ramps are desired.