On the dynamic fragmentation of laser shock-melted tin

Dynamic fragmentation in liquid metals is an issue of increasing interest in shock physics, both for basic and applied scientific motivations. In a recent paper, we have reported an exploratory study of liquid spall in tin samples melted upon laser-driven shocks. The need for further experiments and analyses to answer some questions raised by that work had been pointed out. Thus, we present here some complementary results, including specific recovery tests as well as high speed transverse shadowgraphy to visualize both the expanding cloud of fast droplets and the late motion of large fragments that had been inferred from postshock observations. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.