Abstract
Quantitative information regarding the local behavior of interfaces in an inhomogeneous material during shock loading is limited due to challenges associated with time and spatial resolution. This paper reports the development of a novel method for in-situ measurement of the thermo-mechanical response of polymer bonded sugar composite where measurements are performed during propagagtion of shock wave in sucrose crystal through polydimethylsiloxane binder. The time-resolved measurements were performed with 5 ns resolution providing an estimation on local pressure, temperature, strain rate, and local shock viscosity. The experiments were performed at two different impact velocities to induce shock pressure of 4.26 GPa and 2.22 GPa and strain rate greater than 10(6)/s. The results show the solid to the liquid phase transition of sucrose under shock compression. The results are discussed with the help of fractography analyses of sucrose crystal in order to obtain insights into the underlying heat generation mechanism.