Shock Propagation in a Composite Material

A procedure for calculating the pressure, densities, internal energies and particle velocities behind a plane shock in an infinite composite consisting of alternate layers of two materials or of parallel fibers imbedded in a matrix is presented. The direction of shock propagation is assumed to be parallel to the layers or fibers. Cal-culated values of the shock parameters are given for a hypothetical aluminum polymethylmethacrylate composite. Shock speeds in the composite which are lower than the sonic velocity of one of the constituents are found to be possible