Experimental analysis of spherical wave propagation

Analyses coupling in-material stress and particle velocity gage measurements with the equations of hydrodynamic flow are presently used for determining stress-volume paths during transient one-dimensional plane wave propagation in solids. In this work a method is described that allows analysis of attenuating experimental wave profiles of arbitrary shape in spherically symmetric flow. The method is applied to radial stress and particle velocity data for spherically divergent wave propagation in Westerly granite. The resulting relations among pressure, volume, and deviatoric stress are compared and are found to be consistent with other available data on Westerly granite. It is concluded that the analysis promises to be a useful tool for relating observed wave structure to physical processes occurring in the material and for developing better constitutive relations to predict the transient dynamic behavior of material.