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The energetic molecular crystal cyclotrimethylene trinitramine (HMX) is a key constituent in common plastic bonded explosives. Its plastic deformation under shock conditions is important in reaction initiation and detonation. Here, we study the effect of high pressure on dislocation slip using isothermal-isobaric atomistic simulations. We consider two slip planes, (011) and (101) , that are reported to be most active under ambient conditions. For all slip systems considered, the effect of pressure is to increase the critical resolved shear stress for dislocation slip. Pressure may fully inhibit dislocation-based plasticity if the resolved shear stress is not increased in proportion. On the other hand, at sufficiently high shear stresses, the crystal loses shear stability. Therefore, in a broad range of shock conditions, plastic deformation takes place by a combination of dislocation glide in some slip systems and localization in some other systems, with dislocation activity being gradually inhibited as the shock pressure increases. This provides new data on the physical basis of plastic deformation in HMX, indicating that mesoscale representations of plasticity must include shear localization, which is more important under these conditions than dislocation plasticity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here, we report comprehensive studies on the high-pressure structural and electrical transport properties of the layered transition metal chalcogenide (Cr2S3) up to 36.3 GPa. A structural phase transition was observed in the rhombohedral Cr2S3 near 16.5 GPa by the synchrotron angle dispersive X-ray diffraction measurement using a diamond anvil cell. Through in situ resistance measurement, the electric resistance value was detected to decrease by an order of three over the pressure range of 7-15 GPa coincided with the structural phase transition. Measurements on the temperature dependence of resistivity indicate that it is a semiconductor-to-metal transition in nature. The results were also confirmed by the electronic energy band calculations. Above results may shed a light on optimizing the performance of Cr2S3 based applications under extreme conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plasma actuators used for active flow control are widely studied because they could replace mechanical actuators. Industrial applications of these plasma actuators sometimes require a large surface plasma sheet in view of increasing the interaction region between the discharge and the incoming flow. Instead of using a typical two-electrode nanosecond pulsed dielectric barrier discharge for which the interaction region is limited to about 20 mm, this study proposes to characterize a nanosecond sliding discharge based on a three-electrode geometry in order to increase the extension length up to the electrode gap. This sliding discharge is compared to the typical nanosecond dielectric barrier discharge by means of electrical, optical, and mechanical diagnostics. Electrical characterization reveals that the deposited energy can be widely increased. Time-resolved Intensified Charge Coupled Device (iCCD) images of the discharge development over the dielectric surface highlight that the intensity and the propagation velocity of streamers are strongly affected by the DC voltage applied at the third electrode. Finally, qualitative and quantitative characterizations of the pressure wave due to the surrounding gas heating are proposed by means of Schlieren visualizations and high frequency pressure measurements, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lattice vibrations and electrical transport properties of SrV2O6 (SVO) and BaV2O6 (BVO) under high pressure have been investigated by Raman spectra and alternating current (AC) impedance spectra measurements. A pressure-induced structural phase transition in SVO is observed at 3.9 GPa, and the phase transition in BVO happens at 4.3 GPa from their high-pressure Raman spectra. With further increasing pressures, amorphization is found in both SVO and BVO at 10.1 and 9.3 GPa, respectively. Pressure-induced amorphization of SVO and BVO is suggested to be associated with the breaking up of infinite chains of corner-linked tetrahedral VO4 into VO3-. The recovery of original crystalline phases along with the re-linking of VO3- chains is observed after heating the reclaimed samples. Furthermore, the in situ high pressure measurements of AC impedance spectra of BVO reveal two distinct changes in its resistance, which can correspond to the transitions as observed in the Raman spectra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lattice vibrations and electrical transport properties of SrV2O6 (SVO) and BaV2O6 (BVO) under high pressure have been investigated by Raman spectra and alternating current (AC) impedance spectra measurements. A pressure-induced structural phase transition in SVO is observed at 3.9 GPa, and the phase transition in BVO happens at 4.3 GPa from their high-pressure Raman spectra. With further increasing pressures, amorphization is found in both SVO and BVO at 10.1 and 9.3 GPa, respectively. Pressure-induced amorphization of SVO and BVO is suggested to be associated with the breaking up of infinite chains of corner-linked tetrahedral VO4 into VO3-. The recovery of original crystalline phases along with the re-linking of VO3- chains is observed after heating the reclaimed samples. Furthermore, the in situ high pressure measurements of AC impedance spectra of BVO reveal two distinct changes in its resistance, which can correspond to the transitions as observed in the Raman spectra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we explore the spin ice model under uniaxial pressure using the Monte Carlo simulation method. For the known spin ices, the interaction correction (δ) introduced by the uniaxial pressure varies in quite a wide range from positive to negative. When δ is positive, the ground state characterized by the ferromagnetic spin chains is quite unstable, and in real materials it serves as intermediate state connecting the ice state and the long range ordered dipolar spin ice ground state. In the case of negative δ, the system relaxes from highly degenerate ice state to ordered ferromagnetic state via a first order phase transition. Furthermore, the domain walls in such ferromagnetic state are the hotbed of the excitations of magnetic monopoles, thus indicating that the uniaxial pressure can greatly increase the monopole density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a diamond anvil cell, the evolutions of alternate-current impedance spectra and direct- current resistivity in B12As2 have been investigated up to 51.9 GPa. The results provide evidence for the existence of grain and grain boundary effects that are separated in the frequency region. The grain boundary resistance shows a relatively smaller contribution to the total resistance above 16.8 GPa. By using the double-Schottky barrier model, the space charge potential was obtained. A pressure-induced inversion of charge defect concentration in the space charge layer was found at 20.7 GPa. The high-temperature resistivity measurements indicate that the transport activation energy is determined by defect energy levels in the band gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lattice strength and structural phase transitions of gadolinium (Gd) were determined under nonhydrostatic compression up to 55 GPa using an angle-dispersive radial x-ray diffraction technique in a diamond-anvil cell at room temperature. Three new phases of fcc structure, dfcc structure, and new monoclinic structure were observed at 25 GPa, 34 GPa, and 53 GPa, respectively. The radial x-ray diffraction data yield a bulk modulus K0=36(1) GPa with its pressure derivate K0'=3.8(1) at the azimuthal angle between the diamond cell loading axis and the diffraction plane normal and diffraction plane ψ=54.7°. With K0' fixed at 4, the derived K0 is 34(1) GPa. In addition, analysis of diffraction data with lattice strain theory indicates that the ratio of differential stress to shear modulus (t/G) ranges from 0.011 to 0.014 at pressures of 12-55 GPa. Together with estimated high-pressure shear moduli, our results show that Gd can support a maximum differential stress of 0.41 GPa, while it starts to yield to plastic deformation at 16 GPa under uniaxial compression. The yield strength of Gd remains approximately a constant with increasing pressure, and reaches 0.46 GPa at 55 GPa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the phonon-phonon interactions, we obtain the high temperature phonons of Mo under high pressure. The dynamically stable regions of bcc and fcc Mo in the phase diagram are predicted. By comparing the anharmonic free energy, we determine the bcc-fcc boundary. The bcc Mo is the stable phase up to 700 GPa. Around 210 GPa, there is no bcc-fcc phase transition, which is different with the results from quasiharmonic approximation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a direct numerical method based on gas dynamic equations to predict pressure evolution during the discharge of nanoenergetic materials. The direct numerical method provides for modeling reflections of the shock waves from the reactor walls that generates pressure-time fluctuations. The results of gas pressure prediction are consistent with the experimental evidence and estimates based on the self-similar solution. Artificial viscosity provides sufficient smoothing of shock wave discontinuity for the numerical procedure. The direct numerical method is more computationally demanding and flexible than self-similar solution, in particular it allows study of a shock wave in its early stage of reaction and allows the investigation of "slower" reactions, which may produce weaker shock waves. Moreover, numerical results indicate that peak pressure is not very sensitive to initial density and reaction time, providing that all the material reacts well before the shock wave arrives at the end of the reactor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A model framework for predicting the dynamic shock-compression response of heterogeneous powder mixtures using readily obtained measurements from quasi-static tests is presented. Low-strain-rate compression data are first analyzed to determine the region of the bulk response over which particle rearrangement does not contribute to compaction. This region is then fit to determine the densification modulus of the mixture, σD, an newly defined parameter describing the resistance of the mixture to yielding. The measured densification modulus, reflective of the diverse yielding phenomena that occur at the meso-scale, is implemented into a rate-independent formulation of the P-α model, which is combined with an isobaric equation of state to predict the low and high stress dynamic compression response of heterogeneous powder mixtures. The framework is applied to two metal + metal-oxide (thermite) powder mixtures, and good agreement between the model and experiment is obtained for all mixtures at stresses near and above those required to reach full density. At lower stresses, rate-dependencies of the constituents, and specifically those of the matrix constituent, determine the ability of the model to predict the measured response in the incomplete compaction regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In large explosive and propellant charges, relatively low shock pressures on the order of 1-2 GPa impacting large volumes and lasting tens of microseconds can cause shock initiation of detonation. The pressure buildup process requires several centimeters of shock propagation before shock to detonation transition occurs. In this paper, experimentally measured run distances to detonation for lower input shock pressures are shown to be much longer than predicted by extrapolation of high shock pressure data. Run distance to detonation and embedded manganin gauge pressure histories are measured using large diameter charges of six octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX) based plastic bonded explosives (PBX's): PBX 9404; LX-04; LX-07; LX-10; PBX 9501; and EDC37. The embedded gauge records show that the lower shock pressures create fewer and less energetic "hot spot" reaction sites, which consume the surrounding explosive particles at reduced reaction rates and cause longer distances to detonation. The experimental data is analyzed using the ignition and growth reactive flow model of shock initiation in solid explosives. Using minimum values of the degrees of compression required to ignite hot spot reactions, the previously determined high shock pressure ignition and growth model parameters for the six explosives accurately simulate the much longer run distances to detonation and much slower growths of pressure behind the shock fronts measured during the shock initiation of HMX PBX's at several low shock pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]