| Abstract Scope |
Iron is the major component of the Earth’s solid inner core, so determining its strength under extreme conditions is crucial to understand the rheology of Earth’s core and to interpret geophysical observations. Although it has been widely accepted that the body centered cubic Fe will go through at least one, possibly more, phase transitions at high pressures, the influence of such a reversible phase transition on the strength of Fe is still unknown. Molecular Dynamics simulations of shock-compressed single crystal bcc iron show that the newly formed epsilon phase is nanocrystalline. Reaching the theoretical strength has been a long standing but unreached goal and would have enormous value in developing next generation structural materials. Additionally, these results will lead to an improved understanding of asteroid impact dynamics, planetary formation dynamics, and interior structures of the earth, planets and exoplanets. |