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Dislocation-based strength model for high energy density conditions

We derive a continuum-level plasticity model for polycrystalline materials in the high energy density regime, based on a single dislocation density and single mobility mechanism, with an evolution model for the dislocation density. The model is formulated explicitly in terms of quantities connected closely with equation of state (EOS) theory, in particular the shear modulus and Einstein temperature, which reduces the number of unconstrained parameters while increasing the range of applicability. The least constrained component is the Peierls barrier $E_P$, which is however accessible by atomistic simulations. We demonstrate an efficient method to estimate the variation of $E_P$ with compression, constrained to fit a single flow stress datum. The formulation for dislocation mobility accounts for some or possibly all of the stiffening at high strain rates usually attributed to phonon drag. The configurational energy of the dislocations is accounted for explicitly, giving a self-consistent calculation of the conversion of plastic work to heat. The configurational energy is predicted to contribute to the mean pressure, and may reach several percent in the terapascal range, which may be significant when inferring scalar EOS data from dynamic loading experiments. The bulk elastic strain energy also contributes to the pressure, but appears to be much smaller. Although inherently describing the plastic relaxation of elastic strain, the model can be manipulated to estimate the flow stress as a function of mass density, temperature, and strain rate, which is convenient to compare with other models and inferences from experiment. The deduced flow stress reproduces systematic trends observed in elastic waves and instability growth experiments, and makes testable predictions of trends versus material and crystal type over a wide range of pressure and strain rate.