Effect of Shock Induced Shear on Spall Strengths of Materials

This work examines the effect of shock induced shear under simultaneous compression-shear loading on spall strengths of ductile and brittle materials. The working assumption is that if deformation of a material is dominantly ductile i.e., elastic-plastic, then magnitude of its spall strength under normal shock, and under simultaneous compression-shear loading may not differ significantly. On the other hand, if deformation of a material is dominantly brittle i.e., through crack propagation, then magnitude of its spall strength under simultaneous compression-shear loading may be significantly less than its value under normal shock wave loading. The results of a few spall experiments conducted on Ti-6Al-4V, tungsten carbide, and silicon carbide appear consistent with the above stated assumption.