Dynamic yield and tensile strengths of spark plasma sintered alumina

Fully dense alumina samples with 0.6 μm grain size were produced from alumina powder using Spark Plasma Sintering and tested in two types of VISAR-instrumented planar impact tests. In the tests of the first type the samples of 0.28 to 6-mm thickness were loaded by 1-mm tungsten impactors accelerated up to a velocity of about 1 km/s. These tests were aimed to study the Hugoniot elastic limit (HEL) of the SPS-processed alumina and the decay of the elastic precursor wave with propagation distance. In the second type of test the samples of ∼3-mm thickness were loaded by 1-mm copper impactors accelerated up to velocities 100-1000 m/s. These tests were aimed to study the dynamic tensile (spall) strength of the alumina. The data on tensile fracture of the alumina demonstrate a monotonic decline of the spall strength with the amplitude of the loading stress pulse. The data on the decay of the elastic precursor wave allows for determining the rates of the irreversible (inelastic) strains in the SPS-processed alumina at the initial stages of shock-induced inelastic deformation and, thus, to derive some conclusions concerning the mechanisms responsible of the deformation.