MOLECULAR DYNAMICS SIMULATION OF DYNAMIC RESPONSE OF BERYLLIUM

AP Thompson and JMD Lane and MP Desjarlais, SHOCK COMPRESSION OF CONDENSED MATTER - 2011, PTS 1 AND 2, 1426 (2012).

DOI: 10.1063/1.3686522

The response of beryllium to dynamic loading has been extensively studied, both experimentally and theoretically, due to its importance in several technological areas. We use a MEAM empirical potential to examine the melt transition. MD simulations of equilibrated two-phase systems were used to calculate the HCP melting curve up to 300 GPa. This was found to agree well with previous ab initio calculations. The Hugoniostat method was used to examine dynamic compression along the two principal orientations of the HCP crystal. In both directions, the melting transition occurred at 230 GPa and 5000 K, consistent with the equilibrium melting curve. Direct NEMD simulations of uniaxial compression show a transition to an amorphous material at shocked states that lie below the equilibrium melt curve.

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