We present results from ab initio calculations of the mechanical properties of the rhombohedral phase (beta) of vanadium metal reported in recent experiments, and other predicted high-pressure phases (gamma and bcc), focusing on properties relevant to dynamic experiments. We find that the volume change associated with these transitions is small: no more than 0.15% (for beta - gamma). Calculations of the single crystal and polycrystal elastic moduli (stress-strain coefficients) reveal a remarkably small discontinuity in the shear modulus and other elastic properties across the phase transitions even at zero temperature where the transitions are first order.
@article{arxiv.0711.4383,
title = {Elastic constants and volume changes associated with two high-pressure rhombohedral phase transformations in vanadium},
author = {B. Lee and R. E. Rudd and J. E. Klepeis and R. Becker},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0711.4383},
year = {2009}
}