Review of experimental techniques for high rate deformation and shock studies

A variety of techniques used to obtain the mechanical properties of materials at high rates of strain (⩾10 s−1) are summarised. These include dropweight machines, split Hopkinson pressure bars, Taylor impact and shock loading by plate impact. High-speed photography, particularly when used in association with optical techniques, is a key area and recent advances and applications to studies of ballistic impact are discussed. More comprehensive bibliographies and a fuller discussion of the history may be found in earlier reviews published by us in 1994, 1998 and 2001 (J Phys IV France 4 (C8) (1994) 3; Review of experimental techniques for high rate deformation studies, Proceedings of the Acoustics and Vibration Asia ’98, Acoustics and Vibration Asia 98 Conference, Singapore, 1998; Review of experimental techniques for high rate deformation and shock studies, New Experimental Methods in Material Dynamics and Impact, Institute of Fundamental Technological Research, Warsaw, Poland, 2001).