A kinetic equation for the density of dislocations, which reflects the main stages of the formation of dislocation structures of different types in a shock wave, has been formulated based on the analysis of the interaction of two kinetic processes described by reaction-diffusion type equations for densities of mobile dislocations and dislocations forming immobile dipoles, respectively. It has been shown that an inhomogeneous (cellular) dislocation structure is formed at relatively low pressures behind the front of a shock wave, whereas a uniform distribution of the dislocation density with stacking faults appears at high pressures. The transition from a cellular dislocation density distribution to a uniformly distributed dislocations with stacking faults depends on the stacking fault energy gamma (D) of the metal: the lower is the stacking fault energy, the lower is the pressure in the shock wave sigma (c) at which the cellular dislocation structure transforms into the structure with a uniform dislocation density distribution. It has been found that the dependence of the critical pressure on the stacking fault energy gamma (D) is described by the law sigma (c) (gamma (D) /mu b)(2/3) (where mu is the shear modulus and b is the Burgers vector), which is confirmed in the experiment.
