Influence of interatomic bonding potentials on detonation properties.

The dependences of the macroscopic detonation properties of a two-dimensional (2D) diatomic (AB) molecular system on the fundamental molecular properties were investigated. This includes examining the detonation velocity, reaction zone thickness, and critical width as functions of the exothermicity (Q) of the gas-phase reaction [AB --> (1/2)(A(2) + B(2))] and the gas-phase dissociation energy (D(e)(AB)) for AB --> A + B . Following previous work, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with a reactive empirical bond-order potential were used to characterize the shock-induced response of a diatomic AB molecular solid, which exothermically reacts to produce A2 and B2 gaseous products. Nonequilibrium MD simulations reveal that there is a linear dependence between the square of the detonation velocity and both of these molecular parameters. The detonation velocities were shown to be consistent with the Chapman-Jouguet (CJ) model, demonstrating that these dependences arise from how the equation of state of the products and reactants are affected. Equilibrium MD simulations of microcanonical ensembles were used to determine the CJ states for varying Q 's, and radial distribution functions characterize the atomic structure. The character of this material near the CJ conditions was found to be somewhat unusual, consisting of polyatomic clusters rather than discrete molecular species. It was also found that there was a minimum value of Q and a maximum value of (D(e)(AB)) for which a pseudo-one-dimensional detonation could not be sustained. The reaction zone of this material was characterized under both equilibrium (CJ) and transient (underdriven) conditions. The basic structure is consistent with the Zeldovich-von Neumann-Döring model, with a sharp shock rise and a reaction zone that extends to 200-300 Angstrom. The underdriven systems show a buildup process which requires an extensive time to approach equilibrium conditions. The rate stick failure diameter (critical width in 2D) was also found to depend on Q and (D(e)(AB)). The dependence on Q could be explained in terms of the reaction zone properties.

Shock waves in polycrystalline iron.

The propagation of shock waves through polycrystalline iron is explored by large-scale atomistic simulations. For large enough shock strengths the passage of the wave causes the body-centered-cubic phase to transform into a close-packed phase with most structure being isotropic hexagonal-close-packed (hcp) and, depending on shock strength and grain orientation, some fraction of face-centered-cubic (fcc) structure. The simulated shock Hugoniot is compared to experiments. By calculating the extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) directly from the atomic configurations, a comparison to experimental EXAFS measurements of nanosecond-laser shocks shows that the experimental data is consistent with such a phase transformation. However, the atomistically simulated EXAFS spectra also show that an experimental distinction between the hcp or fcc phase is not possible based on the spectra alone.

Nanohydrodynamics simulations: an atomistic view of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability.

Nanohydrodynamics simulations, hydrodynamics on the nanometer and nanosecond scale by molecular dynamics simulations for up to 100 million particles, are performed on the latest generation of supercomputers. Such simulations exhibit Rayleigh-Taylor instability, the mixing of a heavy fluid on top of a light in the presence of a gravitational field, initiated by thermal fluctuations at the interface, leading to the chaotic regime in the long-time evolution of the mixing process. The early-time behavior is in general agreement with linear analysis of continuum theory (Navier-Stokes), and the late-time behavior agrees quantitatively with experimental observations. Nanohydrodynamics provides insights into the turbulent mixing process that are inaccessible to either continuum calculations or to experiment.

Microscopic view of structural phase transitions induced by shock waves.

Multimillion-atom molecular-dynamics simulations are used to investigate the shock-induced phase transformation of solid iron. Above a critical shock strength, many small close-packed grains nucleate in the shock-compressed body-centered cubic crystal growing on a picosecond time scale to form larger, energetically favored grains. A split two-wave shock structure is observed immediately above this threshold, with an elastic precursor ahead of the lagging transformation wave. For even higher shock strengths, a single, overdriven wave is obtained. The dynamics and orientation of the developing close-packed grains depend on the shock strength and especially on the crystallographic shock direction. Orientational relations between the unshocked and shocked regions are similar to those found for the temperature-driven martensitic transformation in iron and its alloys.