Atomistic study of shock Hugoniot of single crystal Mg

Abstract

Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations are carried out to investigate the shock Hugoniot for single crystal Mg using a planar shock. The MD simulations were carried out using two embedded atom method (EAM) potentials for impact velocities in the range of 500 m/s – 2000 m/s. The anisotropic behavior of shock wave propagation with loading orientation of the crystal is investigated by computing the particle velocity profiles for impact along [0001], [112¯0] and [101¯0] orientations. A split two wave (elastic-plastic) structure above the Hugoniot elastic limit is observed for all the three orientations considered. The shock pressure and the shock velocity of the elastic and the plastic wave are computed as functions of impact velocity. The Hugoniot response predicted for both the potentials agrees very well with the experimental data and therefore suggests that these can be reliably used to model the shock response of single crystal Mg.