Dynamic Behavior of Pre-Fractured Brittle Materials

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Understanding the dynamic failure of brittle materials is important in many Canadian industries, including ceramic body armor used in defense, and blasting and crushing operations of rock used in the oil and gas, and mining industries. These applications involve dynamic loading conditions and cover many types of ceramics and rocks. These materials will behave and fail differently during loading, and this is influenced by their microstructures and properties.In this research program, we want to understand how the microstructure and material properties are linked to mechanisms that are activated during dynamic failure. The short-term objective of the program is to develop predictive models for the compressive strength and fragmentation of pre-fractured brittle materials that incorporate microstructure and mechanical properties. This will be accomplished through a series of characterization, experimental and theoretical tasks. Ultimately, we want to improve the performance of brittle materials used in Canadian industry by controlling their failure, strength, and fragmentation. This is accomplished through the design of new advanced materials and improved industrial processes. Through the next five years, the program will train two PhD students, and one undergraduate student per semester, and we will make contributions to two strategic research areas defined by NSERC: 1. Manufacturing- Material Systems: Insights will be applied to the design of lighter and more effective ceramic materials used for body armor by controlling and optimizing their chemical and physical structures. Modern soldiers carry upwards of 120 lbs in gear and 30 lbs in body armor during missions, which severely burdens their mobility. By developing new materials, we will increase the tactical efficiency of soldiers and, more importantly, save lives. 2. Natural Resources- Optimizing Resource Extraction, Harvesting, and Renewal: Insights will be applied to improving the efficiency of blasting and crushing operations used in the oil and gas, and mining industries. Currently, these operations account for 5% of the world’s electrical energy consumption, and are extremely inefficient with ~1% of the input energy being used to fracture the rock. Through our research, we will be able to improve current industrial processes by identifying more effective operating regimes so as to reduce the amount of energy needed to yield desirable fragmentation outcomes. As a result, this will yield multi-million dollars in economic benefits to Canada, and will reduce our environmental impact. The long-term objective of the program is to establish specializations beyond energy and defense, focusing on Health-related challenges (e.g., effective delivery of X-rays for kidney stone fragmentation).