Publications
Using mesoscale modeling to investigate the role of material heterogeneity in geologic and planetary materials
The propagation of shock waves through target materials is strongly influenced by the presence of small-scale structure, fractures, physical and chemical heterogeneities. Reverberations behind the shock from the presence of physical heterogeneity have been proposed as a mechanism for transient weakening of target materials as are localized shock effects seen in some meteorites. Pre-existing fractures can also affect melt generation. Recent mesoscale studies in computational hydrodynamics have attempted to bridge the gap in numerical modeling between the microscale and the continuum,. Methods are being devised using shock physics hydrocodes such as CTH and Monte-Carlo-type methods to investigate the shock properties of heterogeneous materials and to compare the results with experiments. Recent numerical experiments at the mesoscale using these statistical methods suggest that heterogeneity at the micro-scale plays a substantial and statistically quantifiable role in the effective shear and fracture strength of rocks. This paper will describe the methodology we are using to determine the strength of heterogeneous geologic and planetary materials. © 2006 American Institute of Physics.