Photographic studies of the normal impact of hard spheres on fused silica generating hertzian cones

Colour high-speed photographic framing sequences of the normal impact of 2 mm diameter tungsten carbide spheres on a block of fused silica at 150 m s−1 were taken at 1 × 106 frames per second. The initiation and growth of the resulting two coaxial cone cracks, which formed within 0.1 µs of the initial projectile contact, were followed. The innermost cone crack of a semi included angle of 32° travelled at a velocity of (2270± 100) m s−1 which is close to the theoretical maximum crack velocity of 2180 m s−1 in fused silica. Importantly, the semi included angle of the cone crack was about a half of the angle of the cone crack produced by quasi-static loading. A suggested explanation, based on the localized decrease of the target's Poisson's ratio due to the high impact loading rate, has been proposed and examples are given which support this suggestion.