Acquisition of High-Rate Loading and Damage Characterization Equipment for Advanced Materials Research and Education

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This grant supports equipment needed for characterizing mechanical behavior of advanced structural materials, specifically in the areas of dynamic, high-rate fracture characterization and damage detection. The equipment consists of (1) a Dynatup instrumented low/high-velocity impact test system with an integrated environmental chamber and (2) a Panametrics ultrasonic scanning system. When integrated with the existing facilities, these instruments provide a direct and immediate benefit to faculty and graduate and undergraduate students in the Mechanical Engineering and Civil Engineering Departments in their materials-related research and education activities. The equipment will be integrated into several courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels providing hands-on training and exposure to advanced materials characterization and evaluation methods. A significant area of concern when designing advanced structural materials for critical components is their durability and damage tolerance under a variety of loading and environmental conditions. The survivability of advanced materials must be fully understood before they can be utilized. Impact events, including high-velocity loading (ballistic projectiles) and low-velocity events (e.g., tool drops, bird strikes, hail damage, etc.) are of particular concern, as they can cause damage not visible on the surface, but which can result in significant degradation of performance. Full characterization of the response of materials to impact loading requires the capacity to experimentally generate controlled impact conditions as well as the ability to quantitatively measure the extent and growth of internal damage resulting from this dynamic form of loading.