The decay limit of the Hugoniot elastic limit

The Hugoniot elastic limit (HEL) precursor decay in shock loaded solids has been the subject of considerable experimental and theoretical investigation. Comparative evidence is presented to show that the elastic precursor wave particle velocity, Up(HEL) for certain materials decays asymptotically with propagation distance to the DeBroglie velocity, V-1, lever. This is demonstrated for the following materials: iron, aluminum alloy 6061-T6, plexiglas (PMMA), nicker alloy (MAR-M200), and lithium fluoride (LiF). The DeBroglie velocity is V-1 = h/2md(1), where h is Planck's Constant, m is the mass of one atom, and d(1) is the closest distance between the atoms. For macroscopic particle velocities, Up, equal to V-1, the corresponding elastic pressure is P upsilon(1) = rho(0)C(L)V(1), where rho(0) is the material density and C-L is the elastic wave front velocity. This relates the microscopic domain to macroscopic observable quantities. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.