The main tools we use are Kolsky bars (split Hopkinson pressure bars) modified to conduct valid dynamic experiments on a variety of materials. We also have a light gas gun to lunch projectiles at speeds exceeding 1,000 m/s and high-speed cameras with speeds up to 2,000,000 frames per second. Standard material characterization facilities (drop-weight tower, high-speed MTS, etc) are also available in the lab.

The materials we have investigated range from as soft as brain tissues to as hard as armor ceramics, from as fine as a single Kevlar fiber to as coarse as construction materials, including biological tissues, ceramics, composites, geo-materials, foams, glasses, polymers, metals, and textile materials. The loading conditions include tension, compression, torsion, multi-axial compression, dynamic fracture, dynamic bending, dynamic ring-on-ring, punching and penetration.