Sound Speed in a Shocked Tungsten Alloy: Its Significance in Studying “Softening” Mechanism to Multiphase Alloys

Optical analyzer technique are used to measure the sound speed as a function of pressure for shocked multiphase alloy 93 W containing 93%W, with 4.2%Ni-2.45%Fe-0.35%Co alloy as binder, all in wt.%. Below 250 GPa, the speed increases with pressure, then a bulk“softening” process occurs at 250 to 340 GPa, afterwards the speed again rises with pressure and coincides with the calculated bulk sound speed, showing a fluid-like behavior for this alloy. Lindemann melting law calculations were made for both the binder and the tungsten. The results showed that 250 GPa corresponds approximately to the pressure for the binder beginning to melt, and 340GPa corresponds to that for tungsten. Therefore, we believe that the shock-induced “softening” mechanism for this kind of multiphase alloys can be attributed to the binder melting.