We report on large-scale nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations of shock wave compression in tantalum single crystals. Two new embedded atom method interatomic potentials of Ta have been developed and optimized by fitting to experimental and density functional theory data. The potentials reproduce the isothermal equation of state of Ta up to 300 GPa. We examined the nature of the plastic deformation and elastic limits as functions of crystal orientation. Shock waves along (100), (110), and (111) exhibit elastic-plastic two-wave structures. Plastic deformation in shock compression along (110) is due primarily to the formation of twins that nucleate at the shock front. The strain-rate dependence of the flow stress is found to be orientation dependent, with (110) shocks exhibiting the weaker dependence. Premelting at a temperature much below that of thermodynamic melting at the shock front is observed in all three directions for shock pressures above about 180 GPa.

We use multimillion-atom molecular dynamics simulations to study shock wave propagation in fcc crystals. As shown recently, shock waves along the <100> direction form intersecting stacking faults by slippage along 111 close-packed planes at sufficiently high shock strengths. We find even more interesting behavior of shocks propagating in other low-index directions: for the <111> case, an elastic precursor separates the shock front from the slipped (plastic) region. Shock waves along the <110> direction generate a leading solitary wave train, followed (at sufficiently high shock speeds) by an elastic precursor, and then a region of complex plastic deformation.