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Fluids at high shock pressures and temperatures and some thoughts about future possibilities

Conference ·
OSTI ID:10107469
Shock compression achieves high pressures and temperatures in molecular liquids. High pressures cause high densities in compressible liquid specimens; high temperatures are achieved because the process is adiabatic by virtue of the fast nature of the compression. To illustrate representative effects, the author restricts the discussion to the diatomic fluids of hydrogen and nitrogen. Liquid hydrogen undergoes little or no dissociation, while nitrogen undergoes substantial dissociation in shock-compression experiments. Thus, results for these two similar diatomic fluids are complementary. The initial specimens are liquid but the states achieved by shock compression are supercritical. Thus, the high-pressure data are for the fluid phase. Since vibrational and electronic relaxation times of fluid hydrogen and nitrogen are short compared to the duration of an experiment, these shock-compressed fluids are in thermal equilibrium. Recent experiments to measure electric conductivities and temperatures of liquid hydrogen shock-compressed up to Mbar pressures are described and contrasted with results for liquid nitrogen. Some thoughts about future possibilities for high-pressure shock experiments are discussed.
Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States); National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-48
OSTI ID:
10107469
Report Number(s):
UCRL-JC--115052; CONF-930676--65; ON: DE94003625
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English