Dynamic fracture of copper under the action of a relativistic high-current electron beam

This paper presents the results of investigations of the dynamic spall fracture of bulk (2–6 mm) copper targets under the action of a relativistic high-current electron beam (1.3 MeV electron energy, 50 ns pulse duration, ∼10¹⁰ W/cm² power density) generated by the SINUS-7 accelerator. By numerical simulation with the use of the BETAIN1 software package it has been found that the amplitude of the stress wave formed is 6 GPa and the deformation rate is 5·10⁵ s⁻¹. As established experimentally, there is a practically linear relationship between the thickness of the target and the thickness of the spalled layer. Comparison of the experimental data and the simulation results has shown that the spall strength of copper under the given conditions is 1.3 GPa, which is in good agreement with the data available in the literature. Analysis performed with the use of fractographic teqniques has revealed that in the case of recrystallized copper the size of the spall pits formed inside the grains is four times greater than the size of the pits formed on the grain boundaries. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 7, pp. 69–74, July, 2006.