Soft-recovery of shocked polymers and composites

It is a pressing present objective to understand the mechanical behaviour of polymeric materials, in particular composite systems where plastics are used as the binder phase (such as plastic bonded explosives). A recovery experiment is then required to determine operating mechanisms during shock wave interactions under a global one-dimensional strain state. Previous work in metals has shown that one-dimensional load-unload histories may be approximated under shock conditions to isolate operating mechanisms. This proceeds by using a system of partial momentum traps. This technique is further developed, and it is illustrated how it may be applied to successfully recover polymer targets. A series of experiments and design hydrocode simulations are presented to illustrate the formulation of the technique.