High velocity cavitation fields are investigated in the context of large strain $J2$ plasticity with strain hardening and elastic compressibility. The problem setting is that of an internally pressurized spherical cavity, embedded in an unbounded medium, which grows spontaneously with constant velocity and pressure. Expansion velocity is expected to be sufficiently high to induce a plastic shock wave, hardly considered in earlier dynamic cavitation studies. Jump conditions across singular spherical surfaces (shock waves) are fully accounted for and numerical illustrations are provided over a wide range of power hardening materials. Simple formulae are derived for shock wave characteristics and for the asymptotic behavior within near cavity wall boundary layer.

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