Single crystals of Al were loaded by 15 to 40 GPa shock waves at 77 K with a pulse duration of 1.0 to 0.5 μs and a residual deformation of ∼1%. The analysis of deformation structure peculiarities allows the deformation history to be re-established.After a 20 to 40 GPa loading the dislocation density in the recovered samples was about 1010 cm-2. By measuring the thickness of the 40 GPa shock front in Al, a plastic deformation velocity of 1.07 x 108 s-1 is obtained, from where the moving dislocation density at the front is 7 x 1010 cm-2. A very small part of dislocations moves during the whole time of compression, i.e. a total dislocation density at the front must be in excess of this value by one or two orders. Consequently, due to extremely high stresses, at the front there exists a very unstable structure which is rearranged later with a noticeable decrease in dislocation density.
