Abstract

The over-arching objective of the Oxford research group lead by Prof. Justin Wark is to gain a better understanding of the mechanical response properties at the microscopic lattice level of crystalline solids under the effects of dynamic compression by shock-waves. For this purpose we rely on an interplay between material modeling via computational simulations on one hand, employing such techniques as classical Molecular Dynamics, Hydrocodes and Density Functional Theory, and actual high-power laser-based experimental investigations on the other. Recent progress in our understanding of shock-induced lattice phenomena such as plastic flow (via dislocations, stacking faults and twinning) and the occurrence of structural polymorphic solid-solid pressure-induced phase transitions will be reviewed.