Shockless Characterization of Ceramics

The dynamic response of brittle materials like ceramics is usually studied by means of flyer plate impact experiments. In this work, original tests has been carried out on several ceramics (alumina and silicon carbides) using a high pulsed power generator named GEPI. This electromagnetic device allows obtaining a ramp loading, spread over 500 ns. This particularity is a great advantage to get data on brittle fragmentation through spalling tests in which strain-rate can be accurately determined. Several samples have been recovered partially damaged, giving an interesting insight into the fragmentation process. The ramp loading has also been used to study the compressive response of ceramics thanks to lagrangian analysis. Data have been gathered up to more than 15 GPa on a silicon carbide.