A shock-induced phase transformation in Bismuth

Abstract

A study was made of the shock-induced phase transformation in bismuth at 25 kbar. A quartz pressure-gauge technique was used to obtain the experimental data. A previously reported disagreement between the dynamic and the static transition pressure is due in part to a strength-of-material correction. The remaining discrepancy is probably due to a systematic error in the earlier dynamic study. The observed dynamic transition pressures corrected for strength-of-material effects and corrected to 25°C were 25.4 kbar for isotropic bismuth, and 25.9 kbar for cast bismuth. These values agree nicely with the value 25.4 kbar obtained by static compression. Hugoniot elastic limits of 2.4 to 3.1 kbar were observed for the different types of samples. © 1967 The American Institute of Physics.