Use of IR pyrometry to measure free-surface temperatures of partially melted tin as a function of shock pressure

Abstract

Equilibrium equation of state theory predicts that the free-surface release temperature of shock-loaded tin will show a plateau at 505 K in the stress range from 19.5 to 33.0 GPa, corresponding to the solid-liquid, mixed-phase region of tin. In this paper we report free-surface temperature measurements on shock-loaded tin from 15 to 31 GPa using multiwavelength optical pyrometry. The shock waves were generated by direct contact of detonating high explosive with a tin sample, and the stress in the sample was determined by free-surface velocity measurements using photon Doppler velocimetry. We measured the emitted thermal radiance in the near IR region at four wavelengths from 1.5 to 5.0 μm. Above 25 GPa the measured free-surface temperatures were higher than the predicted 505 K, and they increased with increasing stress. This deviation may be explained by hot spots and/or variations in surface emissivity, and it may indicate a weakness in the use of a simple analysis of multiwavelength pyrometry data for conditions, such as above the melt threshold, where hot spots or emissivity variations may be significant. We are continuing to study the discrepancy to determine its cause.