Molecular Dynamics Simulations of the Richtmyer-Meshkov Instability in Shock Loaded Solids

For the first time, molecular dynamics simulations (MD) are applied to study the evolution of shock‐driven Richtmyer‐Meshkov instability of the perturbations at a solid surface and at the interface separating two solids of different densities. We study the dependence of the instability evolution on the strength and orientation of the shock, and analyze the structure of the material in a vicinity of the interface perturbations (i.e. the spikes and bubbles).