Ramathasan Thevamaran, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Sinan Keten, Northwestern University
Jae-Hwang Lee, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Well-controlled microparticle impact experiments enabled by the recent advancements in laser ablation-based selective microprojectile propulsion and ultra-high-speed imaging techniques provide new opportunities for investigating emerging micro and nanostructured materials as well as conventional materials at the nanoscale. This impact testing approach allows rapid testing of small volumes of materials in the extreme thermo-mechanical environments and investigating their behavior holistically because of the ability to visualize the entire sample deformation—from impact craters/perforations to atomic-scale deformation features—with the aid of electron microscopy. Such small-scale dynamic testing is motivating major developments in the theoretical description of impact physics, including advances in multi-scale models to bridge the gap between molecular models and the scales of the experiments while capturing high-strain rate phenomena accurately. This symposium aims to bring together experimental and computational research on the dynamic behavior of materials—polymers, metals, ceramics, nanofibers, and nanocomposites—subjected to microprojectile impacts, and the recent advancements in relevant experimental and computational techniques.