Penetration and Hugoniot Experiments on Rubber

Rubbers are effective materials for mitigating shock waves and high-velocity impacts. Despite their potential benefits in these extreme applications, relatively few studies have rigorously investigated the penetration behavior of rubbers or their shock Hugoniots. Here, we present experiments that quantify the ability of a rubber to dissipate energy during high-velocity impact. We also conducted plate impact experiments to determine the shock Hugoniot of the rubber using a reverse impact “ring-down” configuration. The rubber was used as the flyer plate in this configuration, which impacted a copper target with a known Hugoniot. As the shock wave reverberates in the copper, the stress rings down from the initial shock stress, and a Hugoniot point can be measured from each reverberation in the copper. These experiments provide valuable information for model development and calibration.