Toward Modeling of Coulomb Explosions of an Elastic Plate

Author(s):

Stephan Bilyk and Michael Grinfeld

Abstract:

Under the action of electromagnetic irradiation or high inertial forces accompanying some ballistic phenomena, the solids are able to accumulate net electric charges. These charges can, in turn, generate sufficiently high macroscopic forces, leading to damage and even explosions of macroscopic and nanoscale aggregates. Corresponding phenomena were coined as the Coulomb explosions. We suggest a quantitative model of the stresses, generated due to the Coulomb forces, and explicitly calculate stresses in the isotropic elastic plate in the framework of linear elasticity.