Taylor impact of polyether ether ketone

Right cylinders of the thermoplastic polyether ether ketone have been impacted onto a hardened steel anvil at velocities from 152 to 408 m s−1. The resultant deformation showed the expected ‘mushrooming’ behaviour up to impact velocities of 303 m s−1, before the impact face began to fracture. No evidence of brittle failure was observed, but rather a ductile process was noted. Discolouration behind the impact face gave evidence of high temperatures in this region, believed to be due to adiabatic heating as the material flowed across the impact face. The concave nature of the impact face after recovery showed that the material had relaxed after the loading had been removed, mostly likely due to the viscoplastic nature of the material.