A study of the effects of mass transfer under quasi-spherical loading of a composite spherical sample

Metallography and electron probe microanalysis were used to study the structure of a composite ball, 60 mm in diameter, subjected to quasi-spherical shock-wave loading. The sample consisted of spherical steel and brass shells and a brass cylinder at the center. Converging shock waves were generated by a spherical HE charge, which was initiated at several points uniformly distributed over its external surface. The pressures at the surface and center of the sample were ∼40 and ∼100 GPa, respectively. Brass and steel were observed to penetrate into the narrow channels of the joints between the halves of the shells and into the compact material. The depths of penetration into the joints and compact material were 3.2 and 0.3 mm, respectively. Mass transfer occurred along the radius from the surface to the center of the sample and in the opposite direction. The mass transfer effects revealed are of hydrodynamic nature.