Dynamic Brazilian Test for Mechanical Characterization of Ceramic Ballistic Protection

The aim of this work is to identify the tensile strength of alumina (Corbit98), by performing Brazilian tests at different loading rate. In this kind of test, generally used for brittle material in static loading conditions, a cylindrical specimen is diametrically compressed and failure is generated in the middle of the component as a consequence of a positive tensile stress. In this work, this experimental technique was applied also in dynamic loading conditions by using a setup based on the Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar. Due to the properties of the investigated material, among which are high hardness, high compressive strength, and brittle behaviour, some precautions were needed to assure the validity of the tests. Digital Image Correlation techniques were applied for the analysis of high framerate videos.