An Experimental Technique for Imposing Dynamic Multiaxial-Compression with Mechanical Confinement

A new experimental technique for imposing controlled lateral confinement on specimens subjected to dynamic uniaxial compression has been developed. A description of the experimental technique and experimental results on a ceramic are presented. The axial compression is applied by a split Hopkinson pressure bar modified to subject the specimen to a single loading pulse during the experiment. The specimen is confined laterally by a shrink-fit metal sleeve. The results show that the failure occurs by fragmentation due to axial splitting under uniaxial stress condition, whereas failure occurs by localized deformation on faults under moderate lateral confinement. The compressive failure strength of the ceramic increases with increasing confinement pressure.