Enthalpy-based equation of state for highly porous materials employing modified soft sphere fluid model

Enthalpy-based equation of state based on a modified soft sphere model for the fluid phase, which includes vaporization and ionization effects, is formulated for highly porous materials. Earlier developments and applications of enthalpy-based approach had not accounted for the fact that shocked states of materials with high porosity (e.g., porosity more than two for Cu) are in the expanded fluid region. We supplement the well known soft sphere model with a generalized Lennard-Jones formula for the zero temperature isotherm, with parameters determined from cohesive energy, specific volume and bulk modulus of the solid at normal condition. Specific heats at constant pressure, ionic and electronic enthalpy parameters and thermal excitation effects are calculated using the modified approach and used in the enthalpy-based equation of state. We also incorporate energy loss from the shock due to expansion of shocked material in calculating porous Hugoniot. Results obtained for Cu, even up to initial porosities ten, show good agreement with experimental data. •This paper develops the enthalpy-based equation of state to model the shock wave properties of highly porous materials.•A modified soft sphere model, which is applicable in the fluid region, is developed first.•The enthalpy parameters are then computed using this model and employed in the equation of state formalism.•Comparisons with experimental data for Cu shows excellent agreement.