Application for Renewal of Shock-BAG beam time at ESRF

This proposal concerns renewal of the Shock block allocation group (BAG). The purpose of the Shock BAG is to coordinate and promote access to high-resolution X-ray imaging to further study of materials under rapid and extreme loading. The BAG pools together shared equipment, personnel and expertise to underpin and enhance the science at the intersection of X-rays and dynamically-compressed matter. Thus far, the BAG has successfully operated 6 run periods, focusing on the already established gas- gun, Hopkinson bar, pulsed laser, and X-pinch platforms. These first campaigns enabled the research of over 20 independent teams, thereby sharing the overhead in setting-up and tearing-down, and helping ensure good quality data was obtained. This renewal seeks to extend the Shock BAG to enable support of emergent techniques identified in the original proposal, such as explosive-drive, which shares similar challenges and diagnostic needs.