Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2013
Heterogeneities at the meso-scale strongly influence the shock compression response of composite materials. Laminated geometries with full density and intimate particle contacts provide a unique system to investigate the influence of microstructure on a propagating shock wave. Computational analysis is used to understand the effects of layer orientation and bilayer spacing on the shock compression response of cold-rolled Ni/ Al multilayers. Real, heterogeneous microstructures, obtained from optical micrographs, are incorporated into the Eulerian, finite volume code CTH. The results show a marked difference in the dissipation and dispersion of the shock wave as the underlying microstructure varies.