title: Evaluating shock absorption behavior of small-sized systems under programmable electric field.
abstract: A simple ball-drop impact tester is developed for studying the dynamic response of hierarchical, complex, small-sized systems and materials. The developed algorithm and set-up have provisions for applying programmable potential difference along the height of a test specimen during an impact loading; this enables us to conduct experiments on various materials and smart structures whose mechanical behavior is sensitive to electric field. The software-hardware system allows not only acquisition of dynamic force-time data at very fast sampling rate (up to 2 × 10(6) samples/s), but also application of a pre-set potential difference (up to ±10 V) across a test specimen for a duration determined by feedback from the force-time data. We illustrate the functioning of the set-up by studying the effect of electric field on the energy absorption capability of carbon nanotube foams of 5 × 5 × 1.2 mm(3) size under impact conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India.
authors.forename: Piyush
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jagtap
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India.
authors.forename: Praveen
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kumar