Pressure Shear Plate Impact on Granular Boron Carbide

Steven Hu, Alex X. Sun, K.T. Ramesh

Centennial High School, Ellicott City, MD;
Johns Hopkins University | Whiting School of Engineering | Baltimore, MD

Abstract Research and Discussion

Boron carbide is investigated in current work due to its Figure 1: Laser Line Velocity Figure 2: X-t Diagram Figure 3: Interferometer Data
excellent mechanical strength and low density, which are
key features for structural application such as armor
protection and penetration prevention. However, its
plasticity is negligible making commercial boron carbide a

Velocity (µ/s)
very brittle material in which crack nucleation, crack
propagation, fragmentation, and dynamic granular flow are
the dominant deformation mechanisms, especially at high
strain rates and complex stress states. Granular flow in Displacement (mm)

communized zones has critical effects on ballistic  Approximately Shear wave speed in plate cs: 3264 m/s
performance of armor materials. In this experiment, the Longitudinal wave speed in plate cd: 5983 m/s
78 m/s
granular boron carbide ESK3000F (with an average grain Wave speed for granular material
size of 0.7 microns) is subject to ultra-high-strain-rate
loading conducted by pressure shear plate impact Figure 4: Dynamic Shear Response
experiment. The granular boron carbide is deformed at a
shearing rate of about 2x104s-1 with a superimposed
normal pressure at 1.74GPa. The obtained shear stress is
around 270MPa. From the collected and analyzed data, the
granular shear stress increases with increasing normal
pressure. Also, by analyze shear strain rate, normal
𝑡1 𝑡2 𝑡3

pressure has stronger effects than the shear strain rate on Added delay time due to tilt
granular shear stress.
The shear window is less than 2 𝜇s
Methods 1
𝜏𝑠 = 𝜌𝑐𝑠 𝑣𝑓𝑠 𝑣0 −𝑣𝑓𝑠
2 𝛾 =
Pressure Shear Plate Impact 1 ℎ Results
Projectile 𝜎 = 𝜌𝑐𝑑 𝑣𝑓 ≈ 1.74GPa
Specimen 2
 Successfully completed one pressure shear plate
Shear strain rate is 2 × 10 𝑠 4 −1
Grating Shear strength is 270 impact experiment on granular boron carbide
TDI
MPa
𝑢0 NVI/NDI  Measured shear stresses in the granular flow at
𝑣0
Incident Beam Figure 5: Normal Pressure Effects around 270 Mpa, normal stresses at around 1.74
V
Gpa, and shear rates of 2x104 s-1.
TDI
Pressure has a  At high rates, increasing the pressure increases the
strong effect on the shear stress sustained by the granular material.
Wedge Flyer Target shear stress  Pressure effects are stronger than strain rate effects.
Internal friction
coefficient is
Acknowledgements
approximately 0.16  Army Engineering Outreach Program—Research and
Engineering Apprenticeship Program
Early time behavior likely due to shear wave propagation through  Ramesh Lab of John’s Hopkins University: Alex Sun
granular medium
and K.T. Ramesh