Molybdenum dynamic yield strength measured via the tamped Richtmyer-Meshkov instability method*

The high pressure and high strain rate dynamic strength of Mo is experimentally and computationally investigated in the 3-16 GPa stress and 10⁴-10⁵ /s strain rate regime using the tamped Richtmyer-Meshkov instability method.  Plate impact experiments are performed at Argonne National Laboratory’s Advanced Photon Source’s Dynamic Compression Sector (DCS), driving a planar shock front through a corrugated Mo-D₂O or Mo-perfluorooctane (C₈F₁₈) interface, forcing the corrugation to invert and form a jet.  The extent of the deformation (jet length, jet shape, etc.) is experimentally measured using X-ray phase contrast imaging at the DCS.  Numerical simulations are performed using the Eulerian code CTH and calibrated against the experimental radiographs.  Mo yield strength, Y, as a function of shock pressure, P, and strain rate, ε^·, is determined for each impact experiment and presented.