MOLECULAR-DYNAMICS OF SHOCK-WAVES IN 3-DIMENSIONAL SOLIDS - TRANSITION FROM NONSTEADY TO STEADY WAVES IN PERFECT CRYSTALS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE RANKINE-HUGONIOT CONDITIONS

Molecular-dynamics calculations of shock waves in perfect three-dimensional solids at nonzero initial temperatures reveal a transition in the nature of the asymptotic shockwave structure as a function of shock strength. The key to this transition from nonsteady to steady waves where the Rankine-Hugoniot relations are obeyed is the partial relaxation of compressive shear stress behind the shock front which accompanies small, but permanent, transverse strains in atomic positions. © 1979 The American Physical Society.