Cylindrical Driven Shocks in Ceria

Shock compression of granular ceria (CeO
2
) was studied in converging cylindrical geometry using LANL proton radiography, and driven by the Precision High Energy-Density Liner Implosion Experiment (PHELIX) magnetic implosion system. PHELIX delivered nearly 4 MA to a 1.25-mm thick liner-impactor to magnetically accelerate it to ~0.8-1.0 mm μs
⁻¹
. The impactor launched a shock in the cylindrical Al outer wall of the target assembly containing equiaxed, 0.63-μm-mean diameter ceria powder initially compacted to a static density of 3.95 or 4.03 g cm
⁻³
. The cylindrically converging shock in the target was observed with a series of 21 proton-radiographic frames down the axis of the cylinder. Proton radiography was performed using a ×3 magnetic lens magnifier and a 7.5-mrad collimator. The proton radiographic views were transformed from transmission images to areal density images, for comparison to a model. Results indicate that significant energy was expended in compacting the porous CeO
2
, as the wave velocity markedly decreases during convergence, and a clear shock reflected from the axis was not observed. These observations are inconsistent with pre-shot modeling, and highlight the need for an improved understanding of the physics of compaction under non-ideal loading configurations.