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Experimental and numerical investigation of shock-induced full vaporization of zinc

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/10192687· OSTI ID:10192687

Prediction of the interaction between expanded vaporized debris and target materials for applications such as meteorite impact on space vehicles, ballistic penetration of armors, debris shield design, etc. demands an accurate treatment of the melting and vaporization process and the kinetics of liquid-vapor propagation. A systematic computational and experimental study is presented on shock-induced full vaporization of zinc resulting from record-high impact speeds recently achieved on the Sandia Hyper-Velocity Launcher. In these experiments, a thin target plate of zinc is impacted by a tantalum flier plate at speeds ranging from 8 to 10.1 km/s, producing pressures from 3 Mbar to over 5.5 Mbar and temperatures as high as 3,900 K. Such high pressures produce essentially full vaporization of the zinc because the thermodynamic release isentropes pass into the vapor dome near the critical point. To characterize vapor flow. the velocity history produced by stagnation of the zinc expansion products against a witness plate is measured with velocity interferometry. For each experiment, the time-resolved experimental interferometer record is compared with wavecode calculations using an analytical equation of state, called ANEOS, that is known to have performed well at lower impact speeds where vaporization is negligible. Significant discrepancies between experiment and calculation are shown to exist under conditions of the more recent higher impact speeds in excess of 7km/s. Numerical predictions underestimate witness-plate velocity for impact speeds up to about 9 km/s but overestimate witness-plate velocity for impact exceeding 9 km/s.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000
OSTI ID:
10192687
Report Number(s):
SAND--93-4018C; CONF-9410131--9; ON: DE95002185; BR: GB0103012
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English