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Title: Initial Examination of Low Velocity Sphere Impact of Glass Ceramics

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1042911· OSTI ID:1042911

This report summarizes US Army TARDEC sponsored work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) involving low velocity (< 30 m/s or < 65 mph) sphere impact testing of two materials from the lithium aluminosilicate family reinforced with different amounts of ceramic particulate, i.e., glass-ceramic materials, SCHOTT Resistan{trademark}-G1 and SCHOTT Resistan{trademark}-L. Both materials are provided by SCHOTT Glass (Duryea, PA). This work is a follow-up to similar sphere impact studies completed by the authors on PPG's Starphire{reg_sign} soda-lime silicate glass and SCHOTT BOROFLOAT{reg_sign} borosilicate glass. A gas gun or a sphere-drop test setup was used to produce controlled velocity delivery of silicon nitride (Si{sub 3}N{sub 4}) spheres against the glass ceramic tile targets. Minimum impact velocities to initiate fracture in the glass-ceramics were measured and interpreted in context to the kinetic energy of impact and the elastic property mismatch between sphere and target material. Quasistatic spherical indentation was also performed on both glass ceramics and their contact damage responses were compared to those of soda-lime silicate and borosilicate glasses. Lastly, variability of contact damage response was assessed by performing spherical indentation testing across the area of an entire glass ceramic tile. The primary observations from this low velocity (< 30 m/s or < 65 mph) testing were: (1) Resistan{trademark}-L glass ceramic required the highest velocity of sphere impact for damage to initiate. Starphire{reg_sign} soda-lime silicate glass was second best, then Resistan{trademark}-G1 glass ceramic, and then BOROFLOAT{reg_sign} borosilicate glass. (2) Glass-ceramic Resistan{trademark}-L also required the largest force to initiate ring crack from quasi-static indentation. That ranking was followed, in descending order, by Starphire{reg_sign} soda-lime silicate glass, Resistan{trademark}-G1 glass ceramic, and BOROFLOAT{reg_sign} borosilicate glass. (3) Spheres with a lower elastic modulus require less force to initiate fracture in Resistan{trademark}-G1 from quasi-static spherical indentation. This indicates that friction is affecting ring crack initiation in Resistan{trademark}-G1. Friction also affected ring crack initiation in Starphire{reg_sign} soda-lime silicate and BOROFLOAT{reg_sign} borosilicate glasses. Among these three materials, friction was the most pronounced (largest slope in the RCIF-elastic modulus graph) in the Starphire{reg_sign} and least pronounced in the BOROFLOAT{reg_sign}. The reason for this is not understood, but differences in deformation behavior under high contact stresses could be a cause or contributor to this. (4) The force necessary to initiate contact-induced fracture is higher under dynamic conditions than it is under quasi-static conditions in Resistan{trademark}-L and Resistan{trademark}-G1 glass ceramics. This is a trend observed too in Starphire{reg_sign} and BOROFLOAT{reg_sign}. (5) There is a subtle indication there was intra-tile differences in spherical indentation-induced ring crack initiation forces. This is not a material property nor is it exclusive to glass-ceramic Resistan{trademark}-G1 glass ceramic, rather, it is a statistical mechanical response to an accumulated history of processing and handling of that specific tile.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
Work for Others (WFO)
DOE Contract Number:
DE-AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1042911
Report Number(s):
ORNL/TM-2012/139; 400403209; TRN: US201213%%206
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English