Shock Response of Polymethylmethacrylate

Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) from two suppliers is subjected to shock loading up to 2 GPa to develop understanding of the effect of manufacturing process on the shock response. The particle velocity, shock velocity, and longitudinal and lateral stresses are measured simultaneously and independently using photon Doppler velocimetry and manganin gauges. The particle velocity measurements agree with data in the literature. The calculated shear stress was seen to deviate from linear behavior at approximately 2 GPa, which is consistent with other experiments. Overall, the selection of material is shown to have up to a 10 % effect on shock properties, but the average difference is less than 2 %, which indicates that the varying the PMMA supplier may not have a dramatic effect on test using PMMA as a window or gap material.