Metallic liquid hydrogen and likely Al2O3 metallic glass

Dynamic compression has been used to synthesize liquid metallic hydrogen at 140 GPa (1.4 million bar) and experimental data and theory predict Al2O3 might be a metallic glass at ~300 GPa. The mechanism of metallization in both cases is probably a Mott-like transition. The strength of sapphire causes shock dissipation to be split differently in the strong solid and soft fluid. Once the 4.5-eV H-H and Al-O bonds are broken at sufficiently high pressures in liquid H2 and in sapphire (single-crystal Al2O3), electrons are delocalized, which leads to formation of energy bands in fluid H and probably in amorphous Al2O3. The high strength of sapphire causes shock dissipation to be absorbed primarily in entropy up to ~400 GPa, which also causes the 300-K isotherm and Hugoniot to be virtually coincident in this pressure range. Above ~400 GPa shock dissipation must go primarily into temperature, which is observed experimentally as a rapid increase in shock pressure above ~400 GPa. The metallization of glassy Al2O3, if verified, is expected to be general in strong oxide insulators. Implications for Super Earths are discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 14th Liquid and Amorphous Metals Conference, Rome 201

Chemical-kinetic prediction of critical parameters in gaseous detonations

A theoretical model including a detailed chemical kinetic reaction mechanism for hydrogen and hydrocarbon oxidation is used to examine the effects of variations in initial pressure and temperature on the detonation properties of gaseous fuel-oxidizer mixtures. Fuels considered include hydrogen, methane, ethane, ethylene, and acetylene. Induction lengths are computed for initial pressures between 0.1 and 10.0 atmospheres and initial temperatures between 200K and 500K. These induction lengths are then compared with available experimental data for critical energy and critical tube diameter for initiation of spherical detonation, as well as detonation limits in linear tubes. Combined with earlier studies concerning variations in fuel-oxidizer equivalence ratio and degree of dilution with N/sub 2/, the model provides a unified treatment of fuel oxidation kinetics in detonations. 4 figures, 1 table

Theoretical and computer models of detonation in solid explosives

Recent experimental and theoretical advances in understanding energy transfer and chemical kinetics have led to improved models of detonation waves in solid explosives. The Nonequilibrium Zeldovich - von Neumann - Doring (NEZND) model is supported by picosecond laser experiments and molecular dynamics simulations of the multiphonon up-pumping and internal vibrational energy redistribution (IVR) processes by which the unreacted explosive molecules are excited to the transition state(s) preceding reaction behind the leading shock front(s). High temperature, high density transition state theory calculates the induction times measured by laser interferometric techniques. Exothermic chain reactions form product gases in highly excited vibrational states, which have been demonstrated to rapidly equilibrate via supercollisions. Embedded gauge and Fabry-Perot techniques measure the rates of reaction product expansion as thermal and chemical equilibrium is approached. Detonation reaction zone lengths in carbon-rich condensed phase explosives depend on the relatively slow formation of solid graphite or diamond. The Ignition and Growth reactive flow model based on pressure dependent reaction rates and Jones-Wilkins-Lee (JWL) equations of state has reproduced this nanosecond time resolved experimental data and thus has yielded accurate average reaction zone descriptions in one-, two- and three- dimensional hydrodynamic code calculations. The next generation reactive flow model requires improved equations of state and temperature dependent chemical kinetics. Such a model is being developed for the ALE3D hydrodynamic code, in which heat transfer and Arrhenius kinetics are intimately linked to the hydrodynamics

Experimental study of flame propagation in semiconfined geometries with obstacles

Accidents in which large quantities of liquefied natural gas (LNG) or other combustible materials are spilled can potentially lead to disastrous consequences, especially if the dispersing combustible cloud finds a suitable ignition source. So far, very little is known about the detailed behavior of a large burning cloud. Full-scale experiments are economically prohibitive, and therefore one must rely on laboratory and field experiments of smaller size, scaling up the results to make predictions about larger spill accidents. In this paper we describe our laboratory-scale experiments with a combustible propane/air mixture in various partially confined geometries. We summarize the experimental results and compare them with calculated results based on numerical simulations of the experiments. Our observations suggest that the geometry of the partial confinement is of primary importance; turbulence-producing obstacles can cause acceleration in the flame front and, more important, can cause a faster burnout of the combustible vapor

Effect of microvoids on the shock initiation of PETN

We demonstrate that the introduction of microvoids as glass microballoons sensitizes high-density solvent-pressed PETN to shock initiation. At input pressures ranging from 1.4-2.0 GPa, shock propagation velocities are higher and run distances to detonation are shorter for PETN sensitized by microballoons. By selecting the size and density of microballoons, we can therefore study the effect of void size and density on shock initiation by hot spots