High strength ceramics such as boron carbide (B4C) exhibit exceptional performance under impact up to the Hugoniot elastic limit (HEL), but apparent brittle failure after the HEL results in an immediate loss of strength prior to a rise to the peak Hugoniot state. By…
The Air Force Research Laboratory has interests in increasing the mechanical resilience of highly loaded composite systems that must survive harsh thermomechanical environments. Mechanical failure is commonly induced and propagated in these materials at the interfaces between the matrix and particulate constituents. In this…
This extended abstract summarizes a previously developed approach for modeling high-velocity impact on multi-layered plain weave composites. This approach is evolved here to include a stochastic mesostructure, which more realistically models a real plain weave composite. The mesoscale modeling approach resolves plain weave architecture…
Cemented granular materials (CGMs) include ceramics, concrete, sandstone, and other sedimentary rocks. These materials have prominent roles in geophysics, engineering, and defense applications. However, due to their microstructural complexity, a complete understanding of the microscopic mechanisms governing macroscopic mechanical behavior in natural CGMs such…
Previous research has shown that the high strain rate performance of thermosetting polymer systems is strongly correlated to three characteristics: the relaxation behavior with respect to the polymer Tg, the molecular weight between crosslinks (Mc), and the fracture toughness (KIC). Using different thermosetting systems…