The ability to diagnose the structure of a material at extreme conditions of high-pressure and high-temperature is fundamental to understanding its behaviour, especially since it was found that materials will adopt complex crystal structures at pressures in the Terapascal regime (1TPa). Static compression, using the diamond anvil cell coupled with synchrotron radiation has to date been the primary method for structural studies of materials at high pressure. However, dynamic compression is the only method capable of reaching pressures comparable to the conditions found in the interior of newly discovered exo-planets and gas giants where such exotic high-pressure behaviour is predicted to be commonplace among materials. While generating extreme conditions using shock compression has become a mature science, it has proved a considerable experimental challenge to directly observe and study such phase transformations that have been observed using static studies due to the lack of sufficiently bright X-ray sources. However, the commissioning of new 4th generation light sources known as free electron lasers now provide stable, ultrafast pulses of X-rays of unprecedented brightness allowing in situ structural studies of shock compressed materials and their phase transformation kinetics in unprecedented detail. Bismuth, with its highly complex phase diagram at modest pressures and temperatures, has been one of the most studied systems using both static and dynamic compression. Despite this, there has been no structural characterisation of the phases observed on shock compression and it is therefore the ideal candidate for the first structural studies using X-ray radiation from a free electron laser. Here, bismuth was shock compressed with an optical laser and probed in situ with X-ray radiation from a free electron laser. The evolution of the crystal structure (or lack there of) during compression and shock release are documented by taking snapshots of successive experiments, delayed in time. The melting of Bi on release from Bi-V was studied, with precise time scans showing the pressure releasing from high-pressure Bi-V phase until the melt curve is reached off-Hugoniot. Remarkable agreement with the equilibrium melt curve is found and the promise of this technique has for future off-Hugoniot melt curve studies at extreme conditions is discussed. In addition, shock melting studies of Bi were performed. The high-pressure Bi - V phase is observed to melt along the Hugoniot where melting is unambiguously identified with the emergence of a broad liquid-scattering signature. These measurements definitively pin down where the Hugoniot intersects the melt curve - a source of some disagreement in recent years. Evidence is also presented for a change in the local structure of the liquid on shock release. The impact of these results are discussed. Finally, a sequence of solid-solid phase transformations is observed on shock compression as well as shock release and is detected by distinct changes in the obtained diffraction patterns. The well established sequence of solid-solid phase transformations observed in previous static studies is not observed in our experiments. Rather, Bi is found to exist in some metastable structures instead of forming equilibrium phases. The implications these results have for observing reconstructive phase transformations in other materials on shock timescales are discussed.

The design of non-classical materials, such as multifunctional energetic materials and/or the synthesis of high pressure phases rely on the understanding of the mechanisms responsible for shock-induced reactions in powder mixtures. The critical reactant powder configurational changes and mechanical mixing processes necessary for reaction initiation have yet to be determined. Consequently, shock-induced reactions have only been observed in select material systems under certain conditions, and remain an uncontrolled phenomenon. Shock-induced reactions in nickel and aluminum powder mixtures are investigated in this work through the use of instrumented gas-gun experiments performing time-resolved pressure and shock velocity measurements to determine the pressure-volume (P-V) shock compressibility (Hugoniot) of the mixture, from which evidence of reaction is inferred through deviations from the inert shock response calculated on the basis of mixture theory. The role of particle size and morphology on non-diffusional mixing and chemical reactivity is explored by conducting similar tests on micron-scale powders of spherical and plate-like (flake) shape. Recovery experiments performed just below the reaction threshold provide information about the densification and mixing behavior between reactants. Discrete-component numerical simulations of the shock-compression of powder mixtures are performed to reveal the micromechanics of particle deformation, and mechanisms of mass-flow and mixing that can lead to the formation of reaction products. The results obtained from time-resolved measurements, recovery experiments, and numerical simulations are coupled to model the linkages between starting powder configuration, mechanically-driven mixing, and chemical reactivity. The knowledge gained from this investigation will lead to understanding of reaction mechanisms, and the control over reaction initiation threshold, time and exothermicity, in addition to characteristics of reaction products formed. The scientific understanding attained will advance the design and application of multifunctional materials for next generation energetic applications, and/or the synthesis of novel materials.

No description available.

The response of porcine adipose and skeletal muscle tissues to shock compression has been investigated using the plate-impact technique in conjunction with manganin foil pressure gauge diagnostics. This approach has allowed for measurement of the levels of uniaxial stress imparted to both skeletal muscle and rendered adipose tissue by the shock. In addition, the lateral stress component generated within adipose tissue during shock loading has also been investigated. The techniques employed in this study have allowed for equation-of-state relationships to be established for the investigated materials, highlighting non-hydrodynamic behaviour in each type of tissue over the range of investigated impact conditions. While the adipose tissue selected in this work has been shown to strengthen with impact stress in a manner similar to that seen to occur in polymeric materials, the skeletal muscle tissues exhibited a ow strength, or resistance to compression, that was independent of impact stress. Both the response of the adipose material and tested skeletal muscle tissues lie in contrast with the shock response of ballistic gelatin, which has previously been shown to exhibit hydrodynamic behaviour under equivalent loading conditions. Plate-impact experiments have also been used to investigate the shock response of a homogenized variant of one of the investigated muscle tissues. In the homogenized samples, the natural structure of skeletal muscle tissue, i.e. a fibrous and anisotropic composite, was heavily disrupted and the resulting material was milled into a fine paste. Rather than matching the response of the unaltered tissues, the datapoints generated from this type of experiment were seen to collapse back on to the hydrodynamic response predicted for skeletal muscle by its linear equation-of-state (Us = 1.72 + 1.88up). This suggests that the resistance to compression apparent in the data obtained for the virgin tissues was a direct result of the interaction of the shock with the quasi-organized structure of skeletal muscle. A soft-capture system has been developed in order to facilitate post-shock analysis of skeletal muscle tissue and to ascertain the effects of shock loading upon the structure of the material. The system was designed to deliver a one-dimensional, at-topped shock pulse to the sample prior to release. The overall design of the system was aided by use of the non-linear and explicit hydrocode ANSYSR AUTODYN. Following shock compression, sections of tissue were imaged using a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Both an auxetic-like response and large-scale disruption to the I-band/Z-disk regions within the tissue's structure were observed. Notably, these mechanisms have been noted to occur as a result of hydrostatic compression of skeletal muscle within the literature.

The response of porcine adipose and skeletal muscle tissues to shock compression has been investigated using the plate-impact technique in conjunction with manganin foil pressure gauge diagnostics. This approach has allowed for measurement of the levels of uniaxial stress imparted to both skeletal muscle and rendered adipose tissue by the shock. In addition, the lateral stress component generated within adipose tissue during shock loading has also been investigated. The techniques employed in this study have allowed for equation-of-state relationships to be established for the investigated materials, highlighting non-hydrodynamic behaviour in each type of tissue over the range of investigated impact conditions. While the adipose tissue selected in this work has been shown to strengthen with impact stress in a manner similar to that seen to occur in polymeric materials, the skeletal muscle tissues exhibited a ow strength, or resistance to compression, that was independent of impact stress. Both the response of the adipose material and tested skeletal muscle tissues lie in contrast with the shock response of ballistic gelatin, which has previously been shown to exhibit hydrodynamic behaviour under equivalent loading conditions. Plate-impact experiments have also been used to investigate the shock response of a homogenized variant of one of the investigated muscle tissues. In the homogenized samples, the natural structure of skeletal muscle tissue, i.e. a fibrous and anisotropic composite, was heavily disrupted and the resulting material was milled into a fine paste. Rather than matching the response of the unaltered tissues, the datapoints generated from this type of experiment were seen to collapse back on to the hydrodynamic response predicted for skeletal muscle by its linear equation-of-state (Us = 1.72 + 1.88up). This suggests that the resistance to compression apparent in the data obtained for the virgin tissues was a direct result of the interaction of the shock with the quasi-organized structure of skeletal muscle. A soft-capture system has been developed in order to facilitate post-shock analysis of skeletal muscle tissue and to ascertain the effects of shock loading upon the structure of the material. The system was designed to deliver a one-dimensional, at-topped shock pulse to the sample prior to release. The overall design of the system was aided by use of the non-linear and explicit hydrocode ANSYSR AUTODYN. Following shock compression, sections of tissue were imaged using a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Both an auxetic-like response and large-scale disruption to the I-band/Z-disk regions within the tissue's structure were observed. Notably, these mechanisms have been noted to occur as a result of hydrostatic compression of skeletal muscle within the literature.

The shock compression of Reactive Particle Metal Mixtures (RPMMs) is studied at the microscale by direct numerical simulation. Mixture microstructures are rendered explicitly, providing spatial resolution of the coupled thermal, mechanical, and chemical responses at the particle level during shock compression. A polymer-bonded aluminum-iron oxide thermite system is the focus of this work; however, the computational methods developed here may be extended to other reactive particle systems. Shock waves are propagated through the mixtures in finite element simulations, where Eulerian formulations are used to handle the highly-dynamic nature of particulate shock compression. Thermo-mechano-chemical responses are computed for a set of mixture classes (20% and 50% epoxy content by weight) subjected to a range of dynamic loading conditions (particle velocities ranging from 0.300??00 km/s). Two critical sub-problems are addressed: (i) the calculation of Hugoniot data for variable mixture compositions and (ii) the prediction of sites that experience microscale reaction initiation. Hugoniot calculations are in excellent agreement with experimental data. Microscale reaction initiation sites are predicted in certain load cases for each mixture class, although such predictions cannot currently be validated by experimental methods.

Modern mining explosives employ solutions of ammonium nitrate, where the solution is the oxidising component of a fuel/oxidiser mixture. This thesis is primarily concerned with the shock response of water and of aqueous solutions of ammonium nitrate. Of particular interest are the temperatures induced through shock compression. An experimental facility, using a single stage gas gun in the 'plate impact' configuration, is described, along with associated experimental diagnostics. Measurements of, and improvements to, the tilt at impact are reported. The problem of shock temperature is discussed, including a brief review of the relevant literature. It is demonstrated that direct measurement of shock temperature is a complex issue that is not yet fully understood, whereas determination of temperature from an equation of state is an established technique. In a series of experiments, plate impact techniques were utilised to determine the Hugoniot and, through shock/reload experiments, the equation of state of water and aqueous solutions of ammonium nitrate. In-situ manganin gauges were used to measure stresses in the liquids and, from the arrival times of the shock wave, determine the shock velocity. Linear shock velocity-particle velocity Hugoniots for the liquids were determined, up to particle velocities of 1km/s, with uncertainties on the intercept and slope of these Hugoniots of 5%. A Mie-Grûneisen equation of state was used to describe the shock/reload experiments. Approximate calculations of shock temperature are reported. Increasing ammonium nitrate concentrations resulted in greater calculated temperatures. It was demonstrated that the liquids investigated in this thesis show a temperature dependence of the Grûneisen parameter, ?, which cannot be accommodated in the model. The present work is believed to be the first demonstration of this effect in shock compressed liquids. The data presented provide constraints on future theoretical development of equations of state.

No description available.

No description available.

A laser-driven flyer impact system was constructed, characterized, and validated for performing uniaxial-strain experiments to investigate the shock equation-of-state (EOS) and processes leading to reaction initiation in thin, fully-dense Ni-Al nanolayered foils. Additionally, various fully-dense Ni-Al mixtures with highly heterogeneous microstructures and widely varying length scales were investigated to understand influence of meso-scale features on the shock compression and reaction response. Ni-Al composites are a class of reactive materials also called Structural Energetic Materials (SEMs), which aim to combine stiffness and strength with the ability to release large amounts of energy through highly exothermic reactions when the constituents are intimately mixed during shock loading. While porous reactive materials have been studied extensively, the processes leading to reaction initiation in fully-dense mixtures consisting of phases with disparate mechanical properties is more ambiguous. A table-top, small-scale laser system was developed for studying shock-induced effects in extremely thin reactive materials. Laser accelerated thin foil impact experiments utilizing time-resolved interferometry allowed for measuring the Hugoniot of the nanolayered Ni-Al foil over a range of particle velocities/pressures. Separate recovery experiments were performed by shock-loading Ni-Al foils slightly below the reaction initiation threshold and performing post-mortem TEM/STEM analysis to identify the constituent mixing processes leading to reaction. Direct-shock experiments were performed on the different fully-dense Ni-Al mixtures and hydrodynamic simulations using real microstructures allowed direct correlations with the experiment results, which yielded an improved understanding of the effect of phase arrangement on the shock propagation and reaction initiation response. The EOS experiments performed at particle velocities > 200 m/s showed a deviation from the predicted inert trend and recovered targets showed complete reaction to the B2-NiAl intermetallic phase. The measured deviation from inert behavior and state of recovered material suggests the occurrence of a shock-induced chemical reaction. The shocked (but unreacted) Ni-Al materials contained distinct constituent mixing features (layer jets and intermixed zones), where significant elemental penetration occurred and are likely sources of reaction initiation. The observed results provide the first clear evidence of shock-induced reactions in fully-dense nanolayered Ni-Al foils.