Time-resolved penetration into pre-damaged hot-pressed silicon carbide

We have conducted a series of experiments to examine projectile penetration of cylindrical hot-pressed silicon carbide (SiC) ceramic targets that are pre-damaged to varying degrees under controlled laboratory conditions prior to ballistic testing. SiC was thermally shocked to introduce non-contiguous cracks. Another set of targets was thermally shocked and then additional damage was induced by load–unload cycling in an MTS machine while the ceramic specimen was confined in a 7075-T6 aluminum sleeve. Finally, targets were made by compacting SiC powder into a 7075-T6 aluminum sleeve. For each of these target types, long gold rod penetration was measured as a function of impact velocity vp over the approximate range of 1–3 km/s, with most data between 1.5 and 3 km/s. Penetration as a function of time was measured using multiple independently timed flash X-rays. Results are compared with previous results for non-damaged (intact) SiC targets. Key results from these experiments include the following: (1) penetration is nominally steady state for vp>1.5 km/s; (2) for all target types, the penetration velocity u is a linear function of vp (except for the lowest impact velocities); and (3) it is found that uintact