Experimental and Computational Damage and Ejecta Studies of Pb Explosively Shock Loaded to $$P_{SL} \approx 32$$- to 40-GPa

We report results from an experiment on Pb that we explosively shock loaded to \(P_{SL} \approx 32\)- and 43-GPa, in a single experiment. These \(P_{SL}\) caused the Pb sample to isentropically release to either a liquid or mixed solid–liquid phase post-shock. The post-shock sample damage and dynamics were diagnosed with proton radiography, which gave quantitative damage data within three distinct regions. The first region is the particle (ejecta) cloud, where we observed that total areal mass ejected from the shocked Pb surface is in-dependent of the peak \(P_{SL}\) for unsupported (Taylor wave) shockwave loading. The second region, which exhibits spall and cavitation, distends and disperses as the shocked coupon self-similarly expands subsequent to the shockwave impulse and the release into tension. The third region includes undamaged, full density Pb sample. We report quantitative observations from all three regions, and we used the data to evaluate and validate damage and ejecta models, which satisfactorily describe the observed experimental dynamics.