Determination of Material Hardness Using Triboluminescence From ZnS:Mn, Cu

摘要

The emission of fluorescence due to mechanical excitation, or triboluminescence (TL), is a phenomenon that has been known for centuries. One of the most common examples of TL is the flash created from chewing real wintergreen Lifesavers. For the last several years, we measured the production of TL from projectile impacts. A so-called 'smart' structure with embedded TL material could be capable of determining whether a particle had struck, and record the relative intensity of its impact. The purpose of this present research is to find how hardness relates to triboluminescence.