Numerical methods for nonlinear stress wave propagation (abstract)

Abstract

The partial differential equations characterizing stress wave propagation problems include conservation of volume, mass, momentum, and energy plus the constitutive relations for the materials involved. Generally these constitutive relations are nonlinear and numerical methods are required for solutions in various coordinate systems and spatial dimensions. The philosophy of stress wave propagation code development and application at Sandia Laboratories is given in this paper. The way different methods are developed, utilized, and tested is illustrated by many examples in which code solutions are compared to analytic solutions, experiments, and solutions from other codes.