Abstract
One‐dimensional shock‐compression experiments were performed on specimens of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and an alumina‐loaded epoxy. The specimens were placed in an electric field before the introduction of the shock, and displacement currents resulting from shock‐induced changes in the size and dielectric properties of the specimen were measured. The observed current histories are in good accord with a model based on a stress‐dependent dielectric relaxation function. The relaxation effects in the alumina epoxy are much larger than those in the polymethyl methacrylate.