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At least 883 records · Page 49
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Surface and sub-surface porosity effects on the initial free surface expansion in shocked single crystal aluminum

Defects and roughness at a material’s surface can allow for the formation of a material jet when a shockwave reaches a surface. The formation of a jet can lead to significant material damage of the shocked material, as well as the downstream material that the jet impacts. Here, we utilize planar shocks in single crystal aluminum to assess initial jetting formation for surface notches and sub-surface porosity. In the case of surface notches, we find that changing the width of the notch can cause the shock breakout response to transition from a standard jetting mechanism to an atomic atomization at high velocities. This transition occurs due to the mechanisms associated with lateral relaxations within the notch and how this interacts with the shock focusing event that induces jetting. For sub-surface pores, the pore collapse induces a re-shock, localized near the pore, that is stronger than the initial shock, but unsupported. Changing the pore dimensions and location relative to the surface influences the strength of the shock that emanates from its collapse when it reaches the surface, leading to a variety of different breakout conditions including jetting and localized material failure.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2012

DIFFUSIVE SHOCK ACCELERATION SIMULATIONS OF RADIO RELICS

Recent radio observations have identified a class of structures, so-called radio relics, in clusters of galaxies. The radio emission from these sources is interpreted as synchrotron radiation from GeV electrons gyrating in {mu}G-level magnetic fields. Radio relics, located mostly in the outskirts of clusters, seem to associate with shock waves, especially those developed during mergers. In fact, they seem to be good structures to identify and probe such shocks in intracluster media (ICMs), provided we understand the electron acceleration and re-acceleration at those shocks. In this paper, we describe time-dependent simulations for diffusive shock acceleration at weak shocks that are expected to be found in ICMs. Freshly injected as well as pre-existing populations of cosmic-ray (CR) electrons are considered, and energy losses via synchrotron and inverse Compton are included. We then compare the synchrotron flux and spectral distributions estimated from the simulations with those in two well-observed radio relics in CIZA J2242.8+5301 and ZwCl0008.8+5215. Considering that CR electron injection is expected to be rather inefficient at weak shocks with Mach number M {approx}< a few, the existence of radio relics could indicate the pre-existing population of low-energy CR electrons in ICMs. The implication of our results on the merger shock scenario of radio relics is discussed.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Grain destruction in a supernova remnant shock wave

Dust grains are sputtered away in the hot gas behind shock fronts in supernova remnants (SNRs), gradually enriching the gas phase with refractory elements. We have measured emission in C IV λ1550 from C atoms sputtered from dust in the gas behind a non-radiative shock wave in the northern Cygnus Loop. Overall, the intensity observed behind the shock agrees approximately with predictions from model calculations that match the Spitzer 24 μm and the X-ray intensity profiles. Thus, these observations confirm the overall picture of dust destruction in SNR shocks and the sputtering rates used in models. However, there is a discrepancy in that the C IV intensity 10'' behind the shock is too high compared with the intensities at the shock and 25'' behind it. Variations in the density, hydrogen neutral fraction, and the dust properties over parsec scales in the pre-shock medium limit our ability to test dust destruction models in detail.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Oblique shock breakout in supernovae and gamma-ray bursts. I. Dynamics and observational implications

In a non-spherical stellar explosion, non-radial motions become important near the stellar surface. For realistic deviations from spherical symmetry, non-radial flow dramatically alters the dynamics and emission of shock emergence on a significant fraction of the surface. The breakout flash is stifled, ejecta speeds are limited, and matter is cast sideways. Non-radial ejection allows for collisions outside the star, which may engender a new type of transient. Strongly oblique breakouts are most easily produced in compact stellar progenitors, such as white dwarfs and stripped-envelope core-collapse supernovae. We study the shock structure and post-shock acceleration using conservation laws, a similarity analysis, and an approximate theory for oblique shocks. The shock is likely to extend vertically from the stellar surface, then kink before joining a deep asymptotic solution. Outflow from the region crossed by an oblique shock is probably unsteady and may affect the surface ahead of the main shock. We comment on the implications for several notable explosions in which the non-spherical dynamics described in this paper are likely to play an important role. We also briefly consider relativistic and superluminal pattern speeds.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Physical properties of the inner shocks in hot, tilted black hole accretion flows

Simulations of hot, pressure-supported, tilted black hole accretion flows, in which the angular momentum of the flow is misaligned with the black hole spin axis, can exhibit two nonaxisymmetric shock structures in the inner regions of the flow. We analyze the strength and significance of these shock structures in simulations with tilt angles of 10° and 15°. By integrating fluid trajectories in the simulations through the shocks and tracking the variations of fluid quantities along these trajectories, we show that these shocks are strong, with substantial compression ratios, in contrast to earlier claims. However, they are only moderately relativistic. We also show that the two density enhancements resembling flow streams in their shape are in fact merely post-shock compressions, as fluid trajectories cut across, rather than flow along, them. The dissipation associated with the shocks is a substantial fraction (≅ 3%-12%) of the rest mass energy advected into the hole, and therefore comparable to the dissipation expected from turbulence. The shocks should therefore make order unity changes in the observed properties of black hole accretion flows that are tilted.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Particle acceleration at quasi-perpendicular shock waves: Theory and observations at 1 AU

The injection of particles into the diffusive shock acceleration mechanism at highly perpendicular (where θ {sub Bn} > 70°) interplanetary shocks is investigated. This extends the previous study of Neergaard Parker and Zank which focused on the injection problem at quasi-parallel interplanetary shocks. We use observations at 1 AU to construct upstream Maxwellian and κ-distributions that are then diffusively accelerated by the shock, thus yielding the downstream accelerated particle distribution. We compare the theoretical accelerated particle distribution to observations at 1 AU using Advanced Composition Explorer data. We classify our results for quasi-perpendicular shocks into three subcategories: those with ratios of the theoretical spectral index to observed power law of >1, ∼ 1, and <1, and compare the magnetic power spectral density plots of these categories. We find that in general the assumed upstream particle distribution that best fits the energetic particle observations is best represented by a κ-distribution, with κ = 4. The magnetic field fluctuations were representative of quasi-perpendicular shocks and showed no particular bias toward our spectral ratio subcategories. The subcategory with spectral ratio <0.9 yielded the largest injection energies for all groups. In all but two of the cases in this study, there were enough particles in the solar wind thermal core to account for the accelerated distribution, thereby giving a lower limit to the required injection energy needed to diffusively accelerate particles at a quasi-perpendicular interplanetary shock. In the remaining two cases, an additional population of particles was required to match the appropriate amplitude of the spectral index. For these cases, we used a low energy (1-50 keV) v {sup –5} spectrum advocated by Fisk and Gloeckler.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Triggering collapse of the presolar dense cloud core and injecting short-lived radioisotopes with a shock wave. III. Rotating three-dimensional cloud cores

A key test of the supernova triggering and injection hypothesis for the origin of the solar system's short-lived radioisotopes is to reproduce the inferred initial abundances of these isotopes. We present here the most detailed models to date of the shock wave triggering and injection process, where shock waves with varied properties strike fully three-dimensional, rotating, dense cloud cores. The models are calculated with the FLASH adaptive mesh hydrodynamics code. Three different outcomes can result: triggered collapse leading to fragmentation into a multiple protostar system; triggered collapse leading to a single protostar embedded in a protostellar disk; or failure to undergo dynamic collapse. Shock wave material is injected into the collapsing clouds through Rayleigh-Taylor fingers, resulting in initially inhomogeneous distributions in the protostars and protostellar disks. Cloud rotation about an axis aligned with the shock propagation direction does not increase the injection efficiency appreciably, as the shock parameters were chosen to be optimal for injection even in the absence of rotation. For a shock wave from a core-collapse supernova, the dilution factors for supernova material are in the range of ∼10{sup –4} to ∼3 × 10{sup –4}, in agreement with recent laboratory estimates of the required amount of dilution for {sup 60}Fe and {sup 26}Al. We conclude that a type II supernova remains as a promising candidate for synthesizing the solar system's short-lived radioisotopes shortly before their injection into the presolar cloud core by the supernova's remnant shock wave.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Injection of κ-like suprathermal particles into diffusive shock acceleration

We consider a phenomenological model for the thermal leakage injection in the diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) process, in which suprathermal protons and electrons near the shock transition zone are assumed to have the so-called κ-distributions produced by interactions of background thermal particles with pre-existing and/or self-excited plasma/MHD waves or turbulence. The κ-distribution has a power-law tail, instead of an exponential cutoff, well above the thermal peak momentum. So there are a larger number of potential seed particles with momentum, above that required for participation in the DSA process. As a result, the injection fraction for the κ-distribution depends on the shock Mach number much less severely compared to that for the Maxwellian distribution. Thus, the existence of κ-like suprathermal tails at shocks would ease the problem of extremely low injection fractions, especially for electrons and especially at weak shocks such as those found in the intracluster medium. We suggest that the injection fraction for protons ranges 10{sup –4}-10{sup –3} for a κ-distribution with 10 ≲ κ {sub p} ≲ 30 at quasi-parallel shocks, while the injection fraction for electrons becomes 10{sup –6}-10{sup –5} for a κ-distribution with κ {sub e} ≲ 2 at quasi-perpendicular shocks. For such κ values the ratio of cosmic ray (CR) electrons to protons naturally becomes K {sub e/p} ∼ 10{sup –3}-10{sup –2}, which is required to explain the observed ratio for Galactic CRs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Nature of the wiggle instability of galactic spiral shocks

Gas in disk galaxies interacts nonlinearly with an underlying stellar spiral potential to form galactic spiral shocks. While numerical simulations typically show that spiral shocks are unstable to wiggle instability (WI) even in the absence of magnetic fields and self-gravity, its physical nature has remained uncertain. To clarify the mechanism behind the WI, we conduct a normal-mode linear stability analysis and nonlinear simulations assuming that the disk is isothermal and infinitesimally thin. We find that the WI is physical, originating from the generation of potential vorticity at a deformed shock front, rather than Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities as previously thought. Since gas in galaxy rotation periodically passes through the shocks multiple times, the potential vorticity can accumulate successively, setting up a normal mode that grows exponentially with time. Eigenfunctions of the WI decay exponentially downstream from the shock front. Both shock compression of acoustic waves and a discontinuity of shear across the shock stabilize the WI. The wavelength and growth time of the WI depend on the arm strength quite sensitively. When the stellar-arm forcing is moderate at 5%, the wavelength of the most unstable mode is about 0.07 times the arm-to-arm spacing, with the growth rate comparable to the orbital angular frequency, which is found to be in good agreement with the results of numerical simulations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Oblique shock breakout in supernovae and gamma-ray bursts. II. Numerical solutions for non-relativistic pattern speeds

Non-spherical explosions develop non-radial flows as the pattern of shock emergence progresses across the stellar surface. In supernovae, these flows can limit ejecta speeds, stifle shock breakout emission, and cause collisions outside the star. Similar phenomena occur in stellar and planetary collisions, tidal disruption events, accretion-induced collapses, and propagating detonations. We present two-dimensional, nested-grid Athena simulations of non-radial shock emergence in a frame comoving with the breakout pattern, focusing on the adiabatic, non-relativistic limit in a plane stratified envelope. We set boundary conditions using a known self-similar solution and explore the role of box size and resolution on the result. The shock front curves toward the stellar surface, and exhibits a kink from which weak discontinuities originate. Flow around the point of shock emergence is neither perfectly steady nor self-similar. Waves and vortices, which are not predominantly due to grid effects, emanate from this region. The post-shock flow is deflected along the stellar surface and its pressure disturbs the stellar atmosphere upstream of the emerging shock. We use the numerical results and their analytical limits to predict the effects of radiation transfer and gravity, which are not included in our simulations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Ion pre-acceleration in fully self-consistent particle-in-cell simulations of supercritical perpendicular reforming shocks in multiple ion species plasmas

Supernova remnant and heliopause termination shock plasmas may contain significant populations of minority heavy ions, with relative number densities n{sub α}/n{sub i} up to 50%. Preliminary kinetic simulations of collisionless shocks in these environments showed that the reformation cycle and acceleration mechanisms at quasi-perpendicular shocks can depend on the value of n{sub α}/n{sub i} . Shock reformation unfolds on ion spatio-temporal scales, requiring fully kinetic simulations of particle dynamics, together with the self-consistent electric and magnetic fields. This paper presents the first set of particle-in-cell simulations for two ion species, protons (n{sub p} ) and α-particles (n{sub α}), with differing mass and charge-to-mass ratios, that spans the entire range of n{sub α}/n{sub i} from 0% to 100%. The interplay between the differing gyro length scales and timescales of the ion species is crucial to the time-evolving phenomenology of the shocks, the downstream turbulence, and the particle acceleration at different n{sub α}/n{sub i} . We show how the overall energization changes with n{sub α}/n{sub i} , and relate this to the processes individual ions undergo in the shock region and in the downstream turbulence, and to the power spectra of magnetic field fluctuations. The crossover between shocks dominated by the respective ion species happens when n{sub α}/n{sub i} = 25%, and minority ion energization is strongest in this regime. Energization of the majority ion species scales with injection energy. The power spectrum of the downstream turbulence includes peaks at sequential ion cyclotron harmonics, suggestive of ion ring-beam collective instability.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Simulations of ion acceleration at non-relativistic shocks. II. Magnetic field amplification

We use large hybrid simulations to study ion acceleration and generation of magnetic turbulence due to the streaming of particles that are self-consistently accelerated at non-relativistic shocks. When acceleration is efficient, we find that the upstream magnetic field is significantly amplified. The total amplification factor is larger than 10 for shocks with Alfvénic Mach number M = 100, and scales with the square root of M. The spectral energy density of excited magnetic turbulence is determined by the energy distribution of accelerated particles, and for moderately strong shocks (M ≲ 30) agrees well with the prediction of resonant streaming instability, in the framework of quasilinear theory of diffusive shock acceleration. For M ≳ 30, instead, Bell's non-resonant hybrid (NRH) instability is predicted and found to grow faster than resonant instability. NRH modes are excited far upstream by escaping particles, and initially grow without disrupting the current, their typical wavelengths being much shorter than the current ions' gyroradii. Then, in the nonlinear stage, most unstable modes migrate to larger and larger wavelengths, eventually becoming resonant in wavelength with the driving ions, which start diffuse. Ahead of strong shocks we distinguish two regions, separated by the free-escape boundary: the far upstream, where field amplification is provided by the current of escaping ions via NRH instability, and the shock precursor, where energetic particles are effectively magnetized, and field amplification is provided by the current in diffusing ions. The presented scalings of magnetic field amplification enable the inclusion of self-consistent microphysics into phenomenological models of ion acceleration at non-relativistic shocks.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Chondrule destruction in nebular shocks

Chondrules are millimeter-sized silicate spherules ubiquitous in primitive meteorites, but whose origin remains mysterious. One of the main proposed mechanisms for producing them is melting of solids in shock waves in the gaseous protoplanetary disk. However, evidence is mounting that chondrule-forming regions were enriched in solids well above solar abundances. Given the high velocities involved in shock models, destructive collisions would be expected between differently sized grains after passage of the shock front as a result of differential drag. We investigate the probability and outcome of collisions of particles behind a one-dimensional shock using analytic methods as well as a full integration of the coupled mass, momentum, energy, and radiation equations. Destruction of protochondrules seems unavoidable for solid/gas ratios ε ≳ 0.1, and possibly even for solar abundances because of 'sandblasting' by finer dust. A flow with ε ≳ 10 requires much smaller shock velocities (∼2 versus 8 km s{sup –1}) in order to achieve chondrule-melting temperatures, and radiation trapping allows slow cooling of the shocked fragments. Initial destruction would still be extensive; although re-assembly of millimeter-sized particles would naturally occur by grain sticking afterward, the compositional heterogeneity of chondrules may be difficult to reproduce. We finally note that solids passing through small-scale bow shocks around few kilometer-sized planetesimals might experience partial melting and yet escape fragmentation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

DESTRUCTION OF INTERSTELLAR DUST IN EVOLVING SUPERNOVA REMNANT SHOCK WAVES

Supernova generated shock waves are responsible for most of the destruction of dust grains in the interstellar medium (ISM). Calculations of the dust destruction timescale have so far been carried out using plane parallel steady shocks, however, that approximation breaks down when the destruction timescale becomes longer than that for the evolution of the supernova remnant (SNR) shock. In this paper we present new calculations of grain destruction in evolving, radiative SNRs. To facilitate comparison with the previous study by Jones et al., we adopt the same dust properties as in that paper. We find that the efficiencies of grain destruction are most divergent from those for a steady shock when the thermal history of a shocked gas parcel in the SNR differs significantly from that behind a steady shock. This occurs in shocks with velocities ≳200 km s{sup −1} for which the remnant is just beginning to go radiative. Assuming SNRs evolve in a warm phase dominated ISM, we find dust destruction timescales are increased by a factor of ∼2 compared to those of Jones et al., who assumed a hot gas dominated ISM. Recent estimates of supernova rates and ISM mass lead to another factor of ∼3 increase in the destruction timescales, resulting in a silicate grain destruction timescale of ∼2–3 Gyr. These increases, while not able to resolve the problem of the discrepant timescales for silicate grain destruction and creation, are an important step toward understanding the origin and evolution of dust in the ISM.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

CONTRIBUTION OF VELOCITY VORTICES AND FAST SHOCK REFLECTION AND REFRACTION TO THE FORMATION OF EUV WAVES IN SOLAR ERUPTIONS

We numerically study the detailed evolutionary features of the wave-like disturbance and its propagation in the eruption. This work is a follow-up to Wang et al., using significantly upgraded new simulations. We focus on the contribution of the velocity vortices and the fast shock reflection and refraction in the solar corona to the formation of the EUV waves. Following the loss of equilibrium in the coronal magnetic structure, the flux rope exhibits rapid motions and invokes the fast-mode shock at the front of the rope, which then produces a type II radio burst. The expansion of the fast shock, which is associated with outward motion, takes place in various directions, and the downward expansion shows the reflection and the refraction as a result of the non-uniform background plasma. The reflected component of the fast shock propagates upward and the refracted component propagates downward. As the refracted component reaches the boundary surface, a weak echo is excited. The Moreton wave is invoked as the fast shock touches the bottom boundary, so the Moreton wave lags the type II burst. A secondary echo occurs in the area where reflection of the fast shock encounters the slow-mode shock, and the nearby magnetic field lines are further distorted because of the interaction between the secondary echo and the velocity vortices. Our results indicate that the EUV wave may arise from various processes that are revealed in the new simulations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Triggering collapse of the presolar dense cloud core and injecting short-lived radioisotopes with a shock wave. IV. effects of rotational axis orientation

Both astronomical observations of the interaction of Type II supernova remnants (SNRs) with dense interstellar clouds as well as cosmochemical studies of the abundances of daughter products of short-lived radioisotopes (SLRIs) formed by supernova nucleosynthesis support the hypothesis that the Solar System's SLRIs may have been derived from a supernova. This paper continues a series devoted to examining whether or not such a shock wave could have triggered the dynamical collapse of a dense, presolar cloud core and simultaneously injected sufficient abundances of SLRIs to explain the cosmochemical evidence. Here, we examine the effects of shock waves striking clouds whose spin axes are oriented perpendicular, rather than parallel, to the direction of propagation of the shock front. The models start with 2.2 M{sub ⊙} cloud cores and shock speeds of 20 or 40 km s{sup −1}. Central protostars and protoplanetary disks form in all models, although with their disk spin axes aligned somewhat randomly. The disks derive most of their angular momentum not from the initial cloud rotation, but from the Rayleigh-Taylor fingers that also inject shock wave SLRIs. Injection efficiencies, f{sub i}, the fraction of the incident shock wave material injected into the collapsing cloud core, are ∼0.04–0.1 in these models, similar to when the rotation axis is parallel to the shock propagation direction. Evidently, altering the rotation axis orientation has only a minor effect on the outcome, strengthening the case for this scenario as an explanation for the Solar System's SLRIs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

AN INTERPRETATION OF GLE71 CONCURRENT CME-DRIVEN SHOCK WAVE

Particle accelerations in solar flares and CME-driven shocks can sometimes result in very high-energy particle events (≥1 GeV) that are known as ground level enhancements (GLEs). Recent studies on the first GLE event (GLE71 2012 May 17 01:50 UT) of solar cycle 24 suggested that CME-driven shock played a leading role in causing the event. To verify this claim, we have made an effort to interpret the GLE71 concurrent shock wave. For this, we have deduced the possible speed and height of the shock wave in terms of the frequency (MHz) of the solar radio type II burst and its drift rate (MHz min{sup –1}), and studied the temporal evolution of the particle intensity profiles at different heights of the solar corona. For a better perception of the particle acceleration in the shock, we have studied the solar radio type II burst with concurrent solar radio and electron fluxes. When the particle intensity profiles are necessarily shifted in time at ∼1 AU, it is found that the growth phases of the electron and cosmic ray intensity fluxes are strongly correlated (>0.91; ≥0.87) with the frequency drift rate of the type II burst, which is also consistent with the intensive particle accelerations at upper coronal heights (∼≥0.80 R {sub S} < 1.10 R {sub S}). Thus, we conclude that the CME-driven shock was possibly capable of producing the high-energy particle event. However, since the peaks of some flare components are found to be strongly associated with the fundamental phase of the type II burst, the preceding flare is supposed to contribute to the shock acceleration process.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Low Mach-number collisionless electrostatic shocks and associated ion acceleration

The existence and properties of low Mach-number (M >~ 1) electrostatic collisionless shocks are investigated with a semi-analytical solution for the shock structure. We show that the properties of the shock obtained in the semi-analytical model can be well reproduced in fully kinetic Eulerian Vlasov-Poisson simulations, where the shock is generated by the decay of an initial density discontinuity. By using this semi-analytical model, we also study the effect of electron-to-ion temperature ratio and presence of impurities on both the maximum shock potential and Mach number. We find that even a small amount of impurities can influence the shock properties significantly, including the reflected light ion fraction, which can change several orders of magnitude. Electrostatic shocks in heavy ion plasmas reflect most of the hydrogen impurity ions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗