Complex loading experiments to study multiphase strength in Cerium

Understanding the mechanical properties of materials at extreme conditions is relevant to a wide range of dynamic phenomena related to geophysics and planetary science, general solid and fluid flow behavior, and applications for ballistics and armor development, for example. Efforts in recent years have used multiple-shock and release loading to examine material strength in metals including single crystal and polycrystalline aluminum. Despite these efforts, data that describes strength effects following a shock-induced, solid-solid phase transition is lacking. In this work, complex loading experiments were analyzed to examine the strength of cerium shocked to stress states that span the low-pressure phase transition up toward the melt boundary. The experimental results and data analysis will be presented along with a discussion on their implications and future work.