Mechanical Aspects of the Dynamic Tear Test

The impact forces and specimen bending moments generated during the NRL dynamic tear test are interpreted in terms of the dynamics of the system and the fracture characteristics of the material. It is shown that the impact forces and bending moments up to the time of crack initiation can be predicted using a simple analysis based on Timoshenko’s treatment of transverse beam impact problems. This implies the possibility of using this analysis for dynamic KIc determinations.