Attenuation of shock waves propagating through nano-structured porous materials

Porous materials have long been known to be effective in energy absorption and shock wave attenuation. These properties make them attractive in blast mitigation strategies. Nano-structured materials have an even greater potential for blast mitigation because of their high surface-to-volume ratio, a geometric parameter which substantially attenuates shock wave propagation. A molecular dynamics approach was used to explore the effects of this remarkable property on the behavior of traveling shocks impacting on solid materials. The computational setup included a moving piston, a gas region and a target solid wall with and without a porous structure. The gas and porous solid were modeled by Lennard-Jones-like and effective atom potentials, respectively. The shock wave is resolved in space and time and its reflection from a solid wall is gradual, due to the wave's finite thickness, and entails a self-interaction as the reflected wave travels through the incoming incident wave. Cases investigated include a free standing porous structure, a porous structure attached to a wall and porous structures with graded porosity. The effects of pore shape and orientation have been also documented. The results indicate that placing a nano-porous material layer in front of the target wall reduced the stress magnitude and the energy deposited inside the solid by about 30 percent, while at the same time substantially decreasing the loading rate. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.