The influence of the admixture of the fullerene C60 on the strength properties of aluminum and copper under shock-wave loading

Abstract

Hugoniot elastic limit (HEL) and dynamic (spall) strength measurements of pressed aluminum and copper samples with an admixture of the fullerene C60 with 2-5 wt% under shock-wave loading were carried out. The peak pressure in the shock-wave was equal to 6 GPa. The measurements of the elastic-plastic and strength properties were based on the recording and the subsequent analysis of the sample free surface velocity histories, recorded by Velocity Interferometric System for Any Reflection (VISAR). It was found that the admixture of 5 wt% fullerene in aluminum samples led to an increase of the Hugoniot elastic limit for aluminum samples by a factor of ten. The copper samples with the admixture of 2 wt% fullerene also demonstrated an increase of the Hugoniot elastic limit in comparison with commercial copper. The measured values of the Hugoniot elastic limit were equal to 0.82-1.56 GPa for aluminum samples and 1.35-3.46 GPa for copper samples, depending on their porosity. As expected, the spall strength of the samples with fullerene decreased by about three times in comparison with the undoped samples as a result of the influence of the solid fullerene particles which were concentrators of tension stresses in the material under dynamic fracture. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.