Spall occurs when materials are subjected to shock impacts; under this loading, the material properties can be modified through microstructural changes and phase transitions. The effect of these changes on subsequent spall has been under-explored. The anisotropy of tin’s ambient crystal structure and the accessibility of the β → γ solid–solid phase transition under shock loading mean that tin offers a rich domain in which to study spall failure. Through testing single-crystal and polycrystal samples shocked above and below this transition, the effects of these variables on the deformation behavior of tin can be determined. Although no orientation dependent spall behavior is observed, unusual strain-rate-dependent behavior is observed, indicating likely mechanisms for the high-rate behavior of tin.
Threadingham et al. (Mon,) studied this question.