Terapascal iron-melting temperature: The pressure and temperature conditions at which iron melts are important for terrestrial planets because they determine the size of the liquid metal core, an important factor for understanding the potential for generating a radiation-shielding magnetic field. Kraus et al . used laser-driven shock to determine the iron-melt curve up to a pressure of 1000 gigapascals (see the Perspective by Zhang and Lin). This value is about three times that of the Earth’s inner core boundary. The authors found that the liquid metal core lasted the longest for Earth-like planets four to six times larger in mass than the Earth. —BG

A basic tenet of material science is that the flow stress of a metal increases as its grain size decreases, an effect described by the Hall-Petch relation. This relation is used extensively in material design to optimize the hardness, durability, survivability, and ductility of structural metals. This Letter reports experimental results in a new regime of high pressures and strain rates that challenge this basic tenet of mechanical metallurgy. We report measurements of the plastic flow of the model body-centered-cubic metal tantalum made under conditions of high pressure ($>100\mathrm{GPa}$) and strain rate ($\sim 10^7{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$) achieved by using the Omega laser. Under these unique plastic deformation (“flow”) conditions, the effect of grain size is found to be negligible for grain sizes $>0.25\mu \mathrm{m}$ sizes. A multiscale model of the plastic flow suggests that pressure and strain rate hardening dominate over the grain-size effects. Theoretical estimates, based on grain compatibility and geometrically necessary dislocations, corroborate this conclusion.

A magnetic loading technique was used to study the strength of polycrystalline tantalum ramp compressed to peak stresses between 60 and 250 GPa. Velocimetry was used to monitor the planar ramp compression and release of various tantalum samples. A wave profile analysis was then employed to determine the pressure-dependence of the average shear stress upon unloading at strain rates on the order of 10⁵ s⁻¹. Experimental uncertainties were quantified using a Monte Carlo approach, where values of 5% in the estimated pressure and 9–17% in the shear stress were calculated. The measured deviatoric response was found to be in good agreement with existing lower pressure strength data as well as several strength models. Significant deviations between the experiments and models, however, were observed at higher pressures where shear stresses of up to 5 GPa were measured. Additionally, these data suggest a significant effect of the initial material processing on the high pressure strength. Heavily worked or sputtered samples were found to support up to a 30% higher shear stress upon release than an annealed material.