§16§In this book, leading scientists share their vision on the Kolsky-Hopkinson bar technique , which is a well-established experimental technique widely used to characterize materials and structures under dynamic, impact and explosion loads. Indeed, the Kolsky-Hopkinson bar machine is not a simple experimental device. It is rather a philosophical approach to solve the problem of measuring impact events. The split Hopkinson pressure bar conventional device is mainly limited to test homogeneous ductile non-soft materials under uni-axial compression. Extending the use of this device to more versatile applications faces several challenges such as controlling the stress state within the specimen and mastering the measurement of forces and velocities at the specimen-bar interfaces and then the material properties. Thus, the topics discussed in this book mainly focused on the loading and processing parts.§ §04§Introduction.- Part I Conventional Kolsky-Hopkinson bar machine.- Part II Specific Processing of the Kolsky-Hopkinson bar machine.- Extensions of the strain rate range and strain rate control.- Specific loadings of the Kolsky-Hopkinson bar machine.- Use of the Kolsky-Hopkinson bar machine to test specific materials and structures. §02§§Ramzi Othman received M.S. from Ecole Polytechnique de Tunisie in 1998. In 1999, he completed a M.S. in Structural Engineering from Ecole Centrale Paris. In 2002, he got his Ph.D. from Ecole Polytechnique (France). In 2005 he became an Associate Professor at Ecole Centrale Nantes (France). Since 2012, he has been on leave from Ecole Centrale de Nantes and working as Associate Professor in King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. His major research interests are characterization and modelling of the dynamic behavior of materials. He is author and co-author of more than 90 publications in refereed journals, conference proceedings and presentations.§
