Dynamic compressive behaviour of ceramics under lateral confinement

A new experimental technique for imposing lateral confinement on specimens subjected to high-strain-rate uniaxial compression is being developed. A brief description of the experimental technique, as well as some preliminary experimental results of the technique are presented in this paper. The results show that under lateral confinement, the impact strength of a brittle glass ceramic increases as compared to its unconfined dynamic compressive failure strength. It is also observed that the propensity for the ceramic to fragment is suppressed by lateral confinement. Furthermore, the ceramic exhibits some inelasticity in the stress-strain behaviour in the presence of lateral confinement.