The contribution of the Cavendish Laboratory to the understanding of solid particle erosion mechanisms

Predicting the low-velocity impact behavior of polycarbonate: Influence of thermal history during injection molding

“…The impact fracture energy of sample with standard notch was found to be 1000 J/m. Moreover, over several decades, the group at Cavendish Laboratory at University of Cambridge [12] has made important contributions to experimental analysis and mechanisms study of PC and other polymers under solid particle impact.…”

Observations and Characterization of Damage in Diamond Coatings Due to Impact Loading

“…This was the only impact site in which cone cracking was observed, although cone cracks have also been observed in other impact studies of diamond. Walley and Field 26 have described the use of high‐speed photography to record the generation of cone cracks by the impact of 2‐mm‐diameter sapphire spheres at 114 m/s onto the (100) face of a single‐crystal diamond.…”

John Edwin Field. 20 September 1936—21 October 2020

“…Damage was caused in flight by the high velocity impact of fine solid or liquid particles in the atmosphere. John and his team developed facilities that used compressed air either to fire water drops (25) or small solid particles (46) at high velocity against candidate infrared-transparent materials. Both facilities could be operated over long time periods, allowing the cumulative damage to be assessed (37, 38), and hence provide the physics understanding necessary to design damage-resistant radomes.…”