Dynamics of stress wave propagation in a chain of photoelastic discs impacted by a planar shock wave; Part I, experimental investigation

The propagation of stress waves through a chain of discs has been studied experimentally. Optically transparent 20-mm diameter discs, made of epoxy, were loaded dynamically by head-on collision with an incident planar shock wave. The loading was done in a vertical shock tube. The head-on collision between the punch-plate, placed on top of the chain of discs, and the incident shock wave resulted in a head-on reflected shock wave inducing behind it a fairly uniform step-wise pressure pulse having duration of about 6 ms. The recorded fringe patterns of the stress field, in the discs-chain, show that the input pressure pulse was broken into several oscillating cycles. The back and forth bouncing of stress waves gave rise to two different modes of the contact stress oscillations, which continued until the overall stress reaches equilibrium with the input conditions. The registered propagation velocity of the stress wave was significantly lower than the appropriate speed of sound in the material from which the discs were made.