Low-Velocity Impact Testing

Impact tests are used to study dynamic deformation and failure modes of materials. This article discusses low-velocity impact experiments in single-stage gas guns. It describes surface velocity measurements with laser interferometric techniques. The article details plate impact soft-recovery experiments, pressure-shear friction experiments, and low-velocity penetration experiments. It reviews two types of plate impact soft-recovery experiments: normal plate impact and pressure-shear plate impact experiments. The article provides information on low-velocity penetration experiments, which include the setup for direct penetration experiment (rod-on-plate) and the reverse penetration experiment (plate-on-rod). It also considers high-temperature plate impact testing and impact techniques with in-material stress and velocity measurements.