On the Shock Response of Polymers to Extreme Loading

This paper reviews polymer response to shock and discusses how plastics behave differently depending on the strain rate applied. The author uses polyethylene, polytetrafluroethylene, polycarbonate and epoxy as example materials. It is suggested that there are two distinct regimes of polymer response corresponding to low and high shock pressures (weak and strong shock regimes) that must be considered separately. Above a high pressure threshold it is proposed that polymers homogenize to carbon-containing structures which behave similarly. Further, the yield stress of a polymer volume element asymptotes to the theoretical strength of the material as volume shrinks to zero. It is suggested that these two behaviours reflect the same physics and this feature is common to the condition identified earlier for crystalline materials. © 2016, The Author(s).