Bridgman`s concern
In 1956 P.W. Bridgman published a letter to the editor in the Journal of Applied Physics reporting results of electrical resistance measurements on iron under static high pressure. The work was undertaken to verify the existence of a polymorphic phase transition at 130 kbar (13 GPa) reported in the same journal and year by the Los Alamos authors, Bancroft, Peterson and Minshall for high pressure, shock-compression loading. In his letter, Bridgman reported that he failed to find any evidence for the transition. Further, he raised some fundamental concerns as to the state of knowledge of shock-compression processes in solids. Later it was determined that Bridgman`s static pressure scale was in error, and the shock observations became the basis for calibration of pressure values in static high pressure apparatuses. In spite of the error in pressure scales, Bridgman`s concerns on descriptions of shock-compression processes were perceptive and have provided the basis for subsequent fundamental studies of shock-compressed solids. The present paper, written in response to receipt of the 1993 American Physical Society Shock-Compression Science Award, provides a brief contemporary assessment of those shock-compression issues which were the basis of Bridgman`s 1956 concerns.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-76DP00789
- OSTI ID:
- 10186449
- Report Number(s):
- SAND--93-1400C; CONF-930676--51; ON: DE93040900
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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