The Taylor cylinder response of PC and PMMA

The well-known Taylor cylinder impact test, which follows the impact of a flat-ended cylindrical rod onto a rigid stationary anvil, is conducted over a range of impact speeds for two polymers, polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and polycarbonate (PC). Experiments and modelling were developed to capture the deformation behaviour of the cylinders after impact. The Taylor impact loading geometry enforces a strong influence of shear loading at impact velocities above a critical value. Introduction of shear stress at the rod-anvil interface was achieved in a new constitutive model by varying interface friction conditions. These works showed a region in which spatial and temporal variation of both longitudinal and radial deformation provided evidence of different failure modes. In a further series of experiments, we varied a range impact face conditions to control failure in the rod and resolve compressed regions within the recovered polymer cylinders. The combination of macroscopic high-speed photography and three-dimensional X-ray imaging with new constitutive modeling has identified and described the development of failure with these polymers.