Shock compression properties of hard materials

Through the measurement of Hugoniot parameters, we can get useful information about high-pressure phase transition, equations of state (EOS), etc. of solids, without pressure calibration. We have performed the Hugoniot-measurement experiments on various kinds of hard materials of calcogenides, oxides, nitrides, borides by using a high time-resolution streak camera system (inclined-mirror method) to investigate the yielding property, phase transition and EOS. It was found that almost all brittle materials behave as an elasto-isotropic solid unlike metals (elasto-plastic solid), except a very few materials such as TiB$_{2}$. We observed the shock-induced phase transitions on ZnS, ZnSe, TiO$_{2}$, ZrO$_{2}$, Gd$_{3}$Ga$_{5}$O$_{12}$, AlN, B$_{4}$C, etc. Some oxide materials showed virtually incompressible EOS's in the high-pressure phase region. Here, the Hugoniot-compression data are reviewed, and the yielding property, phase transition and EOS of these hard materials are discussed. The applications for anvil materials, shock-resisted materials, etc. are also discussed.