Emilien Lescoute

Microjetting from grooved surfaces in metallic samples subjected to laser driven shocks

When a shock wave propagating in a solid sample reflects from a free surface, geometrical effects predominantly governed by the roughness and defects of that surface may lead to the ejection of tiny jets that may breakup into high velocity, approximately micrometer-size fragments. This process referred to as microjetting is a major safety issue for engineering applications such as pyrotechnics or armour design. Thus, it has been widely studied both experimentally, under explosive and impact loading, and theoretically. In this paper, microjetting is investigated in the specific loading conditions associated to laser shocks: very short duration of pressure application, very high strain rates, small spatial scales. Material ejection from triangular grooves in the free surface of various metallic samples is studied by combining transverse optical shadowgraphy and time-resolved velocity measurements. The influences of the main parameters (groove angle, shock pressure, nature of the metal) on jet formation and ejection velocity are quantified, and the results are compared to theoretical estimates.

Skew photonic Doppler velocimetry to investigate the expansion of a cloud of droplets created by micro-spalling of laser shock-melted metal foils

Dynamic fragmentation in the liquid state after shock-induced melting, usually referred to as micro-spallation, is an issue of great interest for both basic and applied sciences. Recent efforts have been devoted to the characterization of the resulting ejecta, which consist in a cloud of fine molten droplets. Major difficulties arise from the loss of free surface reflectivity at shock breakout and from the wide distribution of particle velocities within this cloud. We present laser shock experiments on tin and aluminium, to pressures ranging from about 70 to 160 GPa, with complementary diagnostics including a photonic Doppler velocimeter set at a small tilt angle from the normal to the free surface, which enables probing the whole cloud of ejecta. The records are roughly consistent with a one-dimensional theoretical description accounting for laser shock loading, wave propagation, phase transformations, and fragmentation. The main discrepancies between measured and calculated velocity profiles are discussed in terms of edge effects evidenced by transverse shadowgraphy.

Probing local and electronic structure in Warm Dense Matter: single pulse synchrotron x-ray absorption spectroscopy on shocked Fe

Understanding Warm Dense Matter (WDM), the state of planetary interiors, is a new frontier in scientific research. There exists very little experimental data probing WDM states at the atomic level to test current models and those performed up to now are limited in quality. Here, we report a proof-of-principle experiment that makes microscopic investigations of materials under dynamic compression easily accessible to users and with data quality close to that achievable at ambient. Using a single 100 ps synchrotron x-ray pulse, we have measured, by K-edge absorption spectroscopy, ns-lived equilibrium states of WDM Fe. Structural and electronic changes in Fe are clearly observed for the first time at such extreme conditions. The amplitude of the EXAFS oscillations persists up to 500 GPa and 17000 K, suggesting an enduring local order. Moreover, a discrepancy exists with respect to theoretical calculations in the value of the energy shift of the absorption onset and so this comparison should help to refine the approximations used in models.

PDV MEASUREMENTS OF NS AND FS LASER DRIVEN SHOCK EXPERIMENTS ON SOLID TARGETS

We present a new heterodyne velocimeter setup embedding a second low‐power frequency‐tunable laser acting as a local oscillator. We thus double the overall bandwidth of the system and we make the tuning of the laser power levels easier, to achieve good matching between the electric signal matching and the dynamics of the detector. Recently, we used this velocimeter onto metallic target shock driven by high power laser. The aim is to test the ability of this means to reveal shock propagation and effects into materials under extremely high strain rate with fast variations into the loading evolution. Spallation and fragmentation experiments carried out on aluminum samples were performed on the LULI2000 laser (800 J, 3 ns) and on the 100 TW laser (30 J, 300 fs) of the Ecole Polytechnique, with both VISAR and HV diagnostics. Comparisons reveal a very good consistency of experimental results.

Soft recovery technique to investigate dynamic fragmentation of laser shock-loaded metals

With the development of high energy laser facilities dedicated to inertial confinement fusion, the question of debris ejection from metallic shells subjected to intense laser irradiation has become a key issue. We have used two diagnostics to investigate fragmentation processes. Recovery of ejected fragments has been performed in a highly transparent gel of density 0.9 g/cm3. Fragments sizes, shapes, and penetration depths, can be easily observed with a spatial resolution of micrometer-order. Complementary data are provided by transverse shadowgraphy which allows to obtain quasi-instantaneous, successive pictures of the debris clouds and mean ejection velocities.

Numerical study of laser ablation on aluminum for shock-wave applications: development of a suitable model by comparison with recent experiments

Abstract. In order to control laser-induced shock processes, two main points of interest must be fully understood: the laser–matter interaction generating a pressure loading from a given laser intensity profile and the propagation of induced shock waves within the target. This work aims to build a predictive model for laser shock-wave experiments with two grades of aluminum at low to middle intensities (50 to 500  GW/cm2) using the hydrodynamic Esther code. This one-dimensional Lagrangian code manages both laser–matter interaction and shocks propagation. The numerical results are compared to recent experiments conducted on the transportable laser shocks generator facility. The results of this work motivate a discussion on the shock behavior dependence to elastoplasticity and fracturation models. Numerical results of the rear surface velocity show a good agreement with the experimental results, and it appears that the response of the material to the propagating shock is well predicted. The Esther code associated to this developed model can therefore be considered as a reliable predictive code for laser ablation and shock-wave experiments with pure aluminum and 6061 aluminum in the mentioned range of parameters. The pressure–intensity relationship generated by the Esther code is compared to previously established relationships.

Influence of edge conditions on material ejection from periodic grooves in laser shock-loaded tin

In a material subjected to high dynamic compression, the breakout of a shock wave at a rough free surface can lead to the ejection of high velocity debris. Anticipating the ballistic properties of such debris is a key safety issue in many applications involving shock loading, including pyrotechnics and inertial confinement fusion experiments. In this paper, we use laser driven shocks to investigate particle ejection from calibrated grooves of micrometric dimensions and approximately sinusoidal profile in tin samples, with various boundary conditions at the groove edges, including single groove and periodic patterns. Fast transverse shadowgraphy provides ejection velocities after shock breakout. They are found to depend not only on the groove depth and wavelength, as predicted theoretically and already observed in the past, but also, unexpectedly, on the edge conditions, with a jet tip velocity significantly lower in the case of a single groove than behind a periodic pattern.

Observation of the shock wave propagation induced by a high-power laser irradiation into an epoxy material

The propagation of laser-induced shock waves in a transparent epoxy sample is investigated by optical shadowgraphy. The shock waves are generated by a focused laser (3?ns pulse duration?1.2 to 3.4?TW?cm?2) producing pressure from 44 to 98.9?GPa. It is observed that the shock wave and the release wave created by the shock reverberation at the rear face are both followed by a dark zone in the pictures. This corresponds to the creation of a tensile zone resulting from the crossing on the loading axis of the release waves coming from the edge of the impact area (2D effects). After the laser shock experiment, the residual stresses in the targets are identified and quantified through a photoelasticimetry analysis of the recovered samples. This work results in a new set of original data which can be directly used to validate numerical models implemented to reproduce the behaviour of epoxy under extreme strain rate loading. The residual stresses observed prove that the high-pressure shocks can modify the pure epoxy properties, which could have an influence on the use made of these materials.

Experimental and numerical investigations of shock and shear wave propagation induced by femtosecond laser irradiation in epoxy resins

In this work, original shock experiments are presented. Laser-induced shock and shear wave propagations have been observed in an epoxy resin, in the case of femtosecond laser irradiation. A specific time-resolved shadowgraphy setup has been developed using the photoelasticimetry principle to enhance the shear wave observation. Shear waves have been observed in epoxy resin after laser irradiation. Their propagation has been quantified in comparison with the main shock propagation. A discussion, hinging on numerical results, is finally given to improve understanding of the phenomenon.

Effects of cryogenic temperature on dynamic fragmentation of laser shock-loaded metal foils

Although shock-induced fracture and fragmentation of materials at low temperatures are issues of considerable interest for many applications, such as the protection from hypervelocity impacts in outer space or the ongoing development of high energy laser facilities aiming at inertial confinement fusion, little data can be found on the subject yet. In this paper, laser driven shock experiments are performed on gold and aluminum samples at both ambient and cryogenic (down to about 30 K) temperatures. Complementary techniques including transverse optical shadowgraphy, time-resolved velocity measurements, and post-recovery analyses are combined to assess the effects of target temperature upon the processes of microjetting, spallation, and dynamic punching, which are expected to govern fragments generation and ejection. The results indicate that cryogenic temperature tends to reduce the resistance to tensile and shear stresses, promotes brittle fracture, and leads to slightly higher fragments ejection velocities.