Properties of Ni-Al under shock loading

New models for the dynamic response of materials will be based increasingly on better understanding and representation of processes occurring at the microstructural level. These developments require advances in diagnostics and models which can be applied explicitly to microstructural response. Various phenomena occur at the microstructural level which are generally ignored or averaged out in continuum-level models. One example of such 'irregular hydrodynamics' is the roughness imparted to a shock wave as it propagates through a polycrystalline material. We have developed imaging techniques to study spatial variations in shock propagation through polycrystalline materials. In order to interpret spatially-resolved data from polycrystal samples, we need to compare with simulations which represent the microstructure. Here we describe work undertaken to develop a model of the dynamic response of individual grains. The material chosen was Ni-Al alloy, because it exhibits a relatively large degree of elastic anisotropy, and it is relatively easy to manufacture.