Hugoniot measurements were performed on aluminum (6061-T6) in the stress range of 100–500 GPa (1–5 Mbar) using a magnetically accelerated flyer plate technique. This method of flyer plate launch utilizes the high currents, and resulting magnetic fields produced at the Sandia Z Accelerator to accelerate macroscopic aluminum flyer plates (approximately 12×25 mm in lateral dimension and ∼300 μm in thickness) to velocities in excess of 20 km/s. This technique was used to perform plate-impact shock-wave experiments on aluminum to determine the high-stress equation of state (EOS). Using a near-symmetric impact method, Hugoniot measurements were obtained in the stress range of 100–500 GPa. The results of these experiments are in excellent agreement with previously reported Hugoniot measurements of aluminum in this stress range. The agreement at lower stress, where highly accurate gas gun data exist, establishes the magnetically accelerated flyer plate technique as a suitable method for generating EOS data. Furthermore, the present results exhibit increased accuracy over the previous techniques used to obtain data in the higher-stress range. This improved accuracy enhances our understanding of the response of aluminum to 500 GPa, and lends increased confidence to the use of aluminum as a standard material in future impedance matching experiments.

Near-absolute Hugoniot measurements in aluminum to 500 GPa using a magnetically accelerated flyer plate technique

Fabry–Perot laser interferometry is used to obtain nanosecond time resolved particle velocity histories of the free surfaces of copper, tantalum, or magnesium disks driven by detonating triaminotrinitrobenzene (TATB)-based charges and of the interfaces between detonating TATB and transparent salt crystals. Detonation reaction zone profiles are measured for self-sustaining detonation waves propagating through various thicknesses of LX-17 (92.5% TATB and 7.5% KelF binder) and pure ultrafine particle size TATB. The experimental records are compared to particle velocity histories calculated with the DYNA2D hydrodynamic code using the ignition and growth reactive flow model. The calculations yield excellent agreement with the experimental records for LX-17 using an unreacted von Neumann spike pressure of 33.7 GPa, a reaction rate law which releases 70% of the chemical energy within 100 ns, and the remaining 30% over 300 additional ns, and a reaction product equation of state fit to cylinder test and supracompr...

Detonation waves in triaminotrinitrobenzene

Fabry–Perot laser interferometry was used to obtain nanosecond time resolved particle velocity histories of the free surfaces of tantalum discs accelerated by detonating pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) charges and of the interfaces between PETN detonation products and lithium fluoride crystals. The experimental records were compared to particle velocity histories calculated using very finely zoned meshes of the exact dimensions with the DYNA2Dhydrodynamic code. The duration of the PETN detonation reaction zone was demonstrated to be less than the 5 ns initial resolution of the Fabry–Perot technique, because the experimental records were accurately calculated using an instantaneous chemical reaction, the Chapman–Jouguet (C-J) model of detonation, and the reaction product Jones–Wilkins–Lee (JWL) equation of state for PETN detonation products previously determined by supracompression (overdriven detonation) studies. Some of the PETN charges were pressed to densities approaching the crystal density and exhibited the phenomenon of superdetonation. An ignition and growth Zeldovich–von Neumann–Doring (ZND) reactive flow model was developed to explain these experimental records and the results of previous PETN shock initiation experiments on single crystals of PETN. Good agreement was obtained for the induction time delays preceding chemical reaction, the run distances at which the initial shock waves were overtaken by the detonation waves in the compressed PETN, and the measured particle velocity histories produced by the overdriven detonation waves before they could relax to steady state C-J velocity and pressure.

Detonation waves in pentaerythritol tetranitrate

Fabry-Perot, ORVIS, and VISAR laser interferometry are used to obtain nanosecond time resolved particle velocity histories of the free surfaces of copper and tantalum discs accelerated by detonating trinitrotoluene (TNT) charges and of the interfaces between TNT detonation products and lithium fluoride crystals. TNT detonation reaction zone profiles are measured for self-sustaining detonation and piston supported overdriven (supracompressed) waves. The experimental records are compared to particle velocity histories calculated using very finely zoned meshes of the exact dimensions with the DYNA2D hydrodynamic code. The Ignition and Growth reactive flow model, which is based on the Zeldovich-von Neumann-Doring (ZND) theory of detonation, yields excellent agreement with the experimental records for TNT using an unreacted von Neumann spike pressure of 25 GPa, a reaction rate law which releases 90% of the chemical energy within 80 ns and the remaining 10% over an additional 200 ns, and a reaction product equation of state fit to cylinder test data assuming a Chapman-Jouguet pressure of 19 GPa. The late time energy release is attributed to diffusion controlled solid carbon particle formation.

Detonation waves in trinitrotoluene

In the electric gun, the explosion of an electrically heated metal foil and the accompanying magnetic forces drive a thin flyer plate up a short barrel. Flyer velocities of up to 18 km/s make the gun useful for hypervelocity impact studies. The authors review the technological evolution of the exploding-metal circuit elements that power the gun, describe the 100-kV electric gun designed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in some detail, and present the general principles of electric gun operation. They compare the experimental performance of the LLNL gun with a simple model and with predictions of a magnetohydrodynamics code. >

Operating characteristics and modeling of the LLNL 100-kV electric gun

We have developed a versatile tool for generating planar shock waves. This system, which we call the electric gun, is capable of projecting thin flyer plates with velocities in the range 1–20 km/s. It is presently being used in high‐explosives‐initiation experiments and is being developed for equation‐of‐state measurements in the 1–5 TPa range. We describe the electric gun facilities that are operational at Lawerence Livermore Laboratory and discuss applications of electric gun technology to problems of interest to shock‐wave researchers.

Electric gun: a versatile tool for high‐pressure shock‐wave research

We have developed a new tool for ultrahigh-pressure research at LLL. This system, which we call the electric gun, has already achieved thin flyer plate velocities in excess of 20 km/s and pressures of the order of 2 TPa in tantalum. We believe that the electric gun is competitive with laser- and nuclear-driven methods of producing shocks in the 1-to-5 TPa range because of its precision and ease and economy of operation. Its development is recommended for shock initiation studies, dry runs for Site 300 hydroshots, and as a shock wave generator for surface studies.

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W. W. Hofer

Papers

Electric gun: a versatile tool for high‐pressure shock‐wave research

Electric gun: a new tool for ultrahigh-pressure research