Transitions of Dislocation Glide to Twinning and Shear Transformation in Shock-Deformed Tantalum

Recent TEM studies of deformation substructures developed in tantalum and tantalum-tungsten alloys shock-deformed at a peak pressure {approx}45 GPa have revealed the occurrence of shock-induced phase transformation [i.e., {alpha} (bcc) {yields} {omega} (hexagonal) transition] in addition to shock-induced deformation twinning. The volume fraction of twin and {omega} domains increases with increasing content of tungsten. A controversy arises since tantalum exhibits no clear equilibrium solid-state phase transformation under hydrostatic pressures up to 174 GPa. It is known that phase stability of a material system under different temperatures and pressures is determined by system free energy. That is, a structural phase that has the lowest free energy will be stable. For pressure-induced phase transformation under hydrostatic-pressure conditions, tantalum may undergo phase transition when the free energy of a competing phase {omega} becomes smaller than that of the parent phase {alpha} above a critical pressure (P{sub eq}), i.e., the equilibrium {alpha} {yields} {omega} transition occurs when the pressure increases above P{sub eq}. However, it is also known that material shocked under dynamic pressure can lead to a considerable increase in temperature, and the higher the applied pressure the higher the overheat temperature. This means a higher pressure is required to achieve an equivalent volume (or density) in dynamic-pressure conditions than in hydrostatic-pressure conditions. Accordingly, P{sub eq} for {alpha} {yields} {omega} transition is anticipated to increase under dynamic-pressure conditions as a result of the temperature effect. Although no clear equilibrium transition pressure under hydrostatic-pressure conditions is reported for tantalum, it is reasonable to assume that Peq under dynamic-pressure conditions will be considerably higher than that under hydrostatic-pressure conditions if there is a pressure-induced {alpha} {yields} {omega} transition in tantalum. The observation of {alpha} {yields} {omega} transition in shock-compressed tantalum and tantalum-tungsten alloys at {approx}45 GPa in fact reveals the occurrence of a non-equilibrium phase transformation at such a low pressure. We therefore postulated that the equation of state (EOS) based on static thermodynamics, which asserts that the system free energy (G) is a function of volume (V), pressure (P), and temperature (T), i.e., G = F(V, P, T) is insufficient to rationalize the system free energy under dynamic-pressure conditions. Since shear deformation was found to play a crucial role in shock-induced deformation twins and {omega} phase, the density and arrangement of dislocations, which can alter and increase the system free energy, should also be taken into account to rationalize the non-equilibrium phase transformation in shocked tantalum. Typical arrangements of high-density dislocations formed in pure tantalum shocked at {approx}45 GPa are shown in Figs. 1a and 1b. Figure 1a reveals a cellular dislocation structure but no twins or {omega} phase-domains were observed in this region. The formation of low-energy type cellular dislocation structures indicates the occurrence of dynamic-recovery reactions to reduce dislocation density in this region. Figure 1b shows an evenly distributed dislocation structure with a local dislocation density ({rho}) as high as {approx}5 x 10{sup 12} cm{sup -2} according to {rho} {approx} 1/l{sup 2}, where l ({approx}4.5 nm) is the spacing between two dislocations. Here shock-induced twin plates and {omega} phase-domains can be readily seen. These observations provide us a clue that dislocation arrangement and density population, which can alter system free energy through the changes of dislocation self-energy (E{sub s}) and dislocation interaction energy (E{sub ij}), are relevant to the occurrence of shock-induced twinning and phase transformation in tantalum. The objective of this paper is to report new results obtained from pure tantalum and tantalum tungsten alloys shocked at {approx}30 GPa in order to clarify the correlation between dislocation structure (i.e., density and arrangement) and shock-induced twinning and {alpha} {yields} {omega} transition. Emphasis is placed especially on the {alpha} {yields} {omega} transition. Physical mechanisms are subsequently proposed to rationalize the shock-induced twinning and non-equilibrium phase transformation

Dynamic response of single crystalline copper subjected to quasi-isentropic laser and gas-gun driven loading

Single crystalline copper was subjected to quasi-isentropic compression via gas-gun and laser loading at pressures between 18 GPa and 59 GPa. The deformation substructure was analyzed via transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Twins and laths were evident at the highest pressures, and stacking faults and dislocation cells in the intermediate and lowest pressures, respectively. The Preston-Tonks-Wallace (PTW) constitutive description was used to model the slip-twinning process in both cases

Shock formation and the ideal shape of ramp compression waves

We derive expressions for shock formation based on the local curvature of the flow characteristics during dynamic compression. Given a specific ramp adiabat, calculated for instance from the equation of state for a substance, the ideal nonlinear shape for an applied ramp loading history can be determined. We discuss the region affected by lateral release, which can be presented in compact form for the ideal loading history. Example calculations are given for representative metals and plastic ablators. Continuum dynamics (hydrocode) simulations were in good agreement with the algebraic forms. Example applications are presented for several classes of laser-loading experiment, identifying conditions where shocks are desired but not formed, and where long duration ramps are desired

Materials Response under extreme conditions

Solid state experiments at extreme pressures, 10-100 GPa (0.1-1 Mbar) and strain rates (10{sup 6}-10{sup 8} s{sup -1}) are being developed on high-energy laser facilities. The goal is an experimental capability to test constitutive models for high-pressure, solid-state strength for a variety of materials. Relevant constitutive models are discussed, and our progress in developing a quasi-isentropic, ramped-pressure, shockless drive is given. Designs to test the constitutive models with experiments measuring perturbation growth due to the Rayleigh-Taylor instability in solid-state samples are presented

An automatic gait analysis pipeline for wearable sensors: a pilot study in Parkinson’s disease

The use of wearable sensors allows continuous recordings of physical activity from participants in free-living or at-home clinical studies. The large amount of data collected demands automatic analysis pipelines to extract gait parameters that can be used as clinical endpoints. We introduce a deep learning-based automatic pipeline for wearables that processes tri-axial accelerometry data and extracts gait events—bout segmentation, initial contact (IC), and final contact (FC)—from a single sensor located at either the lower back (near L5), shin or wrist. The gait events detected are posteriorly used for gait parameter estimation, such as step time, length, and symmetry. We report results from a leave-one-subject-out (LOSO) validation on a pilot study dataset of five participants clinically diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and six healthy controls (HC). Participants wore sensors at three body locations and walked on a pressure-sensing walkway to obtain reference gait data. Mean absolute errors (MAE) for the IC events ranged from 22.82 to 33.09 milliseconds (msecs) for the lower back sensor while for the shin and wrist sensors, MAE ranges were 28.56–64.66 and 40.19–72.50 msecs, respectively. For the FC-event detection, MAE ranges were 29.06–48.42, 40.19–72.70 and 36.06–60.18 msecs for the lumbar, wrist and shin sensors, respectively. Intraclass correlation coefficients, ICC(2,k), between the estimated parameters and the reference data resulted in good-to-excellent agreement (ICC ≥ 0.84) for the lumbar and shin sensors, excluding the double support time (ICC = 0.37 lumbar and 0.38 shin) and swing time (ICC = 0.55 lumbar and 0.59 shin). The wrist sensor also showed good agreements, but the ICCs were lower overall than for the other two sensors. Our proposed analysis pipeline has the potential to extract up to 100 gait-related parameters, and we expect our contribution will further support developments in the fields of wearable sensors, digital health, and remote monitoring in clinical trials

Equation of state and strength of diamond in high pressure ramp loading

Diamond is used extensively as a component in high energy density experiments, but existing equation of state (EOS) models do not capture its observed response to dynamic loading. In particular, in contrast with first principles theoretical EOS models, no solid-solid phase changes have been detected, and no general-purpose EOS models match the measured ambient isotherm. We have performed density functional theory (DFT) calculations of the diamond phase to ~10TPa, well beyond its predicted range of thermodynamic stability, and used these results as the basis of a Mie-Greuneisen EOS. We also performed DFT calculations of the elastic moduli, and calibrated an algebraic elasticity model for use in simulations. We then estimated the flow stress of diamond by comparison with the stress-density relation measured experimentally in ramp-loading experiments. The resulting constitutive model allows us to place a constraint on the Taylor-Quinney factor (the fraction of plastic work converted to heat) from the observation that diamond does not melt on ramp compression

Neutron time-of-flight measurements of charged-particle energy loss in inertial confinement fusion plasmas

Neutron spectra from secondary ^{3}H(d,n)α reactions produced by an implosion of a deuterium-gas capsule at the National Ignition Facility have been measured with order-of-magnitude improvements in statistics and resolution over past experiments. These new data and their sensitivity to the energy loss of fast tritons emitted from thermal ^{2}H(d,p)^{3}H reactions enable the first statistically significant investigation of charged-particle stopping via the emitted neutron spectrum. Radiation-hydrodynamic simulations, constrained to match a number of observables from the implosion, were used to predict the neutron spectra while employing two different energy loss models. This analysis represents the first test of stopping models under inertial confinement fusion conditions, covering plasma temperatures of k_{B}T≈1-4  keV and particle densities of n≈(12-2)×10^{24}  cm^{-3}. Under these conditions, we find significant deviations of our data from a theory employing classical collisions whereas the theory including quantum diffraction agrees with our data

Dynamic Response of Copper Subjected to Quasi-Isentropic, Gas-Gun Driven Loading

A transmission electron microscopy study of quasi-isentropic high-pressure loading (peak pressures between 18 GPa and 52 GPa) of polycrystalline and monocrystalline copper was carried out. Deformation mechanisms and defect substructures at different pressures were analyzed. Current evidence suggests a deformation substructure consisting of twinning at the higher pressures and heavily dislocated laths and dislocation cells at the intermediate and lower pressures, respectively. Evidence of stacking faults at the intermediate pressures was also found. Dislocation cell sizes decreased with increasing pressure and increased with distance away from the surface of impact