Tutorials

Equations of state (EOS) play a fundamental role in many fields of science and engineering. However, no one academic discipline "owns" this important subject. One reason for this fact is that methods developed to solve EOS problems in one field are often inadequate to address problems in other fields. For example, chemical engineers, astrophysicists, and geophysicists all encounter EOS concepts during their academic training, but they study different aspects of the subject—different physical and chemical phenomena, different regions of temperature and pressure, different classes of materials; they learn different theories, different approximations, sometimes even different notation.

In industry, however, one can encounter problems that cut across many scientific fields. This situation is especially true of investigations involving high-velocity impacts, explosions, shock waves, and other hydrodynamic phenomena. In such cases, the EOS theorist is called upon to employ a variety of scientific tools—continuum mechanics, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, and statistical mechanics—and to know something about chemistry and materials science. In many cases, he/she will require more expertise than can be obtained from standard courses in these subjects.

There are no textbooks or academic courses that provide the comprehensive background needed by the EOS theorist.

One of the main goals of this website is to help remedy this situation. This section of the site will offer "tutorials" on various aspects of EOS theory and modeling. The titles and links to these documents are given below, along with brief summaries of their content. Two types of documents will be available:

• The on-line tutorials (narrated PPT presentations) give overviews of various topics, focusing primarily on fundamental concepts and using as few equations as possible.

• In-depth discussions, that include detailed equations and derivations, will be presented as KTS reports, downloadable as pdf files.

I will not try to cover each and every aspect of this fascinating subject. The emphasis will be on what I know best: issues that arise in shock wave and hydrodynamics problems, including numerical hydrocode simulations. I will also concentrate mainly on EOS theory and modeling, leaving experimental methods to be covered by my distinguished colleagues. However, I hope that anyone interested in equations of state will find something useful in this site.

Three tutorials are now complete, and I am currently adding a fourth one (see below). Others will be added to the site as I get time to write them.

                                                                                                - Gerald I. Kerley

The following presentations are best viewed using a broadband connection. For best results, allow the file to download completely before viewing. Report any problems to contact@kerleytechnical.com .

The following tutorials require javascript to be enabled and an up-to-date flash player. To update your flash player, go to http://www.adobe.com, click on the button "Get ADOBE FLASH PLAYER," and follow the instructions.