Molecular dynamics simulation of the Hugoniot states of boron suboxide

It has been previously demonstrated in a number of studies that the strength of boron carbide can be significantly reduced via introduction of a site vacancy. The site vacancies result in a discontinuous shock response at high pressure that is driven by bond formation between atoms which neighbor the vacancies. In this work, molecular dynamics simulations of boron suboxide (B6O) have been conducted to determine whether an analogous bond formation occurs at high pressure producing discontinuities in the B6O Hugoniot. Hugoniot data for ideal boron suboxide, a defect structure of boron suboxide, and a carbon doped structure are provided and the structural response of the oxygen atoms within the B6O crystal with increasing shock pressure is presented.