Assessing the mechanical properties of materials at intermediate strain rates (1-200/s) is one of the major concerns in impact engineering. Servo-hydraulic machines are usually used at this range of strain rates. However, detrimental oscillations appear on the measured load for strain rates above 10/s. In this paper, we present a modified servo-hydraulic machine. The load is measured by a Hopkinson bar-like technique. Besides, the BCGO wave separation method is used to overcome the limited test duration problem. Moreover, the strain in the sample is measured using Digital Speckle Photographs (DSP) which are captured via high-speed video camera. This modified machine is an equivalent and alternative solution to the slow bar technique. It is applied to aluminium 2017 T4 alloy at strain-rates of approximately 100/s. Compared to the piezoelectric force sensor, the Hopkinson bar-like method gives less-oscillating signals. The sample attaching device is also taken into account. It is considered as a rigid mass. This simple assumption is valid up to strain-rates

The fragmentation process is a main concern in many engineering applications such as preventing flameouts of aircraft engines. The authors of this article are interested in measuring the critical impact velocity for ice fragmentation. Precisely, a dropweight technique was applied to study the ice ball impacts on glass plates. The influence of ice ball temperature, diameter and impact angle is also investigated. The after-impact ice ball state was found to be classified into two cases: an altered state and a non-altered state. The critical impact velocity is defined as the minimum impact velocity for which the ice ball is altered after impact or the maximum impact velocity for which the ice ball is not altered after impact. The experimental results are analysed by a model, assuming that the alteration regime is observed as soon as the ice ball normal kinetic energy is higher than a critical value of its deformation energy. This model depends on one parameter which is determined in this study. This last result is the major achievement of this article as there is almost no measurement of this parameter in the literature.

Hail is more hazardous for aircraft engines compared to rain and snow, mainly, because of its solid nature and high water content. In extreme cases it can lead to engine flame out. In order to avoid such situations, aero engines should be designed to withstand hail ingestion. For this purpose we have studied the post-impact characteristics of ice, such as particle velocity and directions of travel. To achieve this goal, a large experimental program has been undertaken, in which spherical ice specimens were projected against a rigid plate. Three specimen diameters (6.2, 12.9 and 27.5 mm) and four impact angles (20, 45, 75 and 90 •) were considered, as well as a wide range of impact velocities (60-200 m/s).