Shock Parameters in a Two Component Mixture

A thermodynamically consistent procedure, based on the Gibbs free energy, is described for computing the thermodynamic properties of a mixture in equilibrium at constant pressure and temperature. This is used to compute temperatures, pressures, Gruneisen parameters and sound velocities on the Hugoniot for mixtures of polyethylene and quartz. The results show that a simple mass-weighted average for the Gruneisen parameter is inaccurate and that the mixture of two mate rials for which Γ/V = constant does not itself have a constant value of r/V. Some comments are made on problems of equilibrium of stress and temperature in composite materials.