Eric Loomis

Dynamic response of materials on subnanosecond time scales, and beryllium properties for inertial confinement fusion

During the past few years, substantial progress has been made in developing experimental techniques capable of investigating the response of materials to dynamic loading on nanosecond time scales and shorter, with multiple diagnostics probing different aspects of the behavior. These relatively short time scales are scientifically interesting because plastic flow and phase changes in common materials with simple crystal structures—such as iron—may be suppressed, allowing unusual states to be induced and the dynamics of plasticity and polymorphism to be explored. Loading by laser-induced ablation can be particularly convenient: this technique has been used to impart shocks and isentropic compression waves from ∼1to200GPa in a range of elements and alloys, with diagnostics including line imaging surface velocimetry, surface displacement (framed area imaging), x-ray diffraction (single crystal and polycrystal), ellipsometry, and Raman spectroscopy. A major motivation has been the study of the properties of be...

Modeling of Elastic Waves in Dynamically Loaded NiAl Bicrystals

Two methods have been used to simulate 2D elastic wave scattering in nickel aluminide (NiAl) bicrystals to study effects of grain boundaries and material anisotropy on elastic wave propagation. Scattering angles and amplitude ratios of the reflected and refracted waves produced at the grain boundary were calculated via slowness curves for both grains, which were plotted in the plane of incidence containing the grain boundary normal. From these curves, scattering angles were measured graphically and amplitude ratios were calculated based on the continuity of tractions and displacements at the boundary. To support these calculations, finite element simulations were performed with ABAQUS/EXPLICIT to obtain time- and space-dependent stresses. The results of each method correlated well with each other for four bicrystals. It was found that for bicrystals where the transmitted quasi-longitudinal (TQL) wave amplitude decreased across the boundary, diminished stresses were found in the finite element models for the same bicrystal. Conversely, where an increase in amplitude of the TQL wave was found, the finite element simulations showed that stress under the boundary increased. In general, the amplitude of the TQL wave was found to have a strong connection to the ratio of incident and TQL sound speeds. However, other directions in each grain are believed to contribute strongly to the overall scattering process since the pairs of bicrystals in this investigation had somewhat similar sound speeds. These findings correlated well with free surface cracking observed in a previous paper (Loomis, E., Peralta, P., Swift, D., and McClellan, K., 2005, Mater. Sci. Eng., Ser A., 404(1-2), pp. 291-300), where cracks nucleated and propagated due to the focusing of scattered waves at the boundary. Specifically, in bicrystals oriented for shielding, the grain boundary was protected forcing cracks to grow outside of the shielded region.

The Laser-Driven X-ray Big Area Backlighter (BABL): Design, Optimization, and Evolution

The Big Area BackLigher (BABL) has been developed for large area laser-driven x-ray backlighting on the National Ignition Facility (NIF), which can be used for general High Energy Density (HED) experiments. The BABL has been optimized via hydrodynamic simulations to produce laser-to-x-ray conversion efficiencies of up to nearly 5%. Four BABL foil materials, Zn, Fe, V, and Cu, have been used for He-α x ray production.

Characterization of Laser‐Driven Shocked NiAl Monocrystals and Bicrystals

Disks of oriented single crystals and bicrystals of selected misorientations of NiAl were tested under direct laser‐driven shock conditions. Shocked specimens were recovered and characterized to study cracking and slip behavior. In addition, the crystallographic orientation of the tested samples was studied using Orientation Imaging Microscopy (OIM). Results indicate that direct laser‐driven shocks in monocrystals induce cracking on {110} planes, with a high crack density for 〈100〉 samples and a low crack density for 〈110〉 and 〈111〉 specimens. The crack density was much higher on the impact side. In one bicrystal, a Grain Boundary Affected Zone (GBAZ) was observed close to the boundary in one grain, where both cracking and slip were present, whereas no cracking or slip traces were observed in the other grain. OIM revealed that specimens developed gradients of orientation due to bowing of the foil caused by the impact. The changes in the speed of sound across the inclined interface correlated with the crac...