Thermal transport in shock wave-compressed solids using pulsed laser heating

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Solid Mechanics
• Thermodynamics

Background:

• Determining thermal transport properties of solids under shock-wave compression is critical for understanding material behavior.
• Existing methods often face challenges in accurately measuring these properties in dynamic states.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and demonstrate a novel pulsed laser heating method for measuring thermal transport properties of solids under shock-wave compression.
• To determine the thermal effusivity of shock-compressed materials.

Main Methods:

• A pulsed laser deposits a known heat amount onto a shock-compressed sample's surface.
• The transient surface temperature is recorded using optical pyrometry.
• Thermal effusivity is calculated from the surface temperature's time history.

Main Results:

• The method successfully determined the thermal effusivity of shock-compressed tin (~25 GPa, ~1300 K).
• Tin exhibited a thermal effusivity nearly double its ambient value under shock compression.
• The study demonstrated the method's capability to relate surface temperature to interior thermodynamic states.

Conclusions:

• The pulsed laser heating technique is effective for measuring thermal transport properties of shock-compressed solids.
• The findings provide insights into the thermophysical behavior of metals under extreme dynamic compression.
• This method enhances the ability to determine the thermodynamic state of compressed materials.