Comparisons of various piezoelectric (PZT, LN, PIN-PMN-PT) and micro-Asay probes to characterize shock-induced ejection

A combination of three different types of piezoelectric probes made of PZT, LN, and PIN-PMN-PT crystals (I: indium, M: Magnesium, N: Niobium, P: lead, T: Titanium, Z: Zirconium) is used to weigh the particles ejected from grooved tin surfaces, shock-loaded by powder gun. The materials are chosen complementary. The robustness (high Curie temperature and mechanical stiffness) of LN (in some cases, shunted by a low resistance to prevent the crushing voltage) makes it able to correctly measure impact pressures up to a few tens of GPa (corresponding to the collision of the free surface onto the detector), and total ejected masses of the order of 10 mg.cm^-2. The high sensitivity (piezoelectric strain coefficient d₃₃) of PIN-PMN-PT, when connected to an electronic amplifier, allows us to detect very low pressures (about 100 Pa), and masses slightly higher than 1 ng.cm^-2, produced by the arrival of the early ejecta. The PZT crystal serves for comparison, since historically used for this kind of experiments. Then, it appears possible to weigh the ejecta, over 7 decades, during the whole process. The measurements are consistent with those provided by complementary micro-Asay probes (only sensitive to masses higher than about 0.1 mg.cm^-2).