Endommagement des matériaux sous chocs^*

Materials damaging under shocks

Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique, Centre d’Etudes de Bruyères-le-Châtel

Abstract

The fracture of materials under dynamic loading appears to be a field of research of a great interest for many applications. However, it involves a lot of complex phenomena (metallurgical and mechanical) which play a significant role during very short times (= 1 μs). Consequently, experimental and theoretical approaches are quite difficult. In fact, fracture of materials is the ultimate stage of the development of a damage characterized by the nucléation and growth of microcracks or microvoids.

The purpose of this paper is to present, in a general way, the damage phenomena and the various resulting fracture mechanisms. Experimental techniques are described and some theoretical modélisations are discussed.