Spallation source

Spallation is a process in which fragments of material (spall) are ejected from a body due to impact or stress. In the context of impact mechanics it describes ejection or vaporization of material from a target during impact by a projectile. In planetary physics, spallation describes meteoritic impacts on a planetary surface and the effects of a stellar wind on a planetary atmosphere. In the context of mining or geology, spallation can refer to pieces of rock breaking off a rock face due to the internal stresses in the rock; it commonly occurs on mine shaft walls. In the context of anthropology, spallation is a process used to make stone tools such as arrowheads by knapping. In nuclear physics, spallation is the process in which a heavy nucleus emits a large number of nucleons as a result of being hit by a high-energy particle, thus greatly reducing its atomic weight.

Spallation can occur when a tensile stress wave propagates through a material and can be observed in flat plate impact tests. It is caused by an internal cavitation due to stresses, which are generated by the interaction of stress waves, exceeding the local tensile strength of materials. A fragment or multiple fragments will be created on the free end of the plate. This fragment known as "spall" acts as a secondary projectile with velocities that can be as high as one third of the stress wave speed on the material. This type of failure is typically an effect of high explosive squash head (HESH) charges.

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