Early studies of the ferroelectric ceramic PZT 95/5 indicated that the initial porosity could have strong effect on material response under shock loading. The porosity can be modified through the addition of organic pore formers that are pyrolyzed during ceramic firing. In the present study, the shock response of PZT 95/5 materials having different porous microstructures has been examined. Pore formers were added in quantities from 0.45 to 4.0 weight percent, resulting in sample densities from

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... .65 to 6.98 g/cm 3 and corresponding void volume fractions of 4% to 13%. Gas gun experiments were conducted to examine the response of these materials under uniaxial strain conditions. Transmitted wave profiles in unpoled and normally poled samples were obtained using laser interferometry (VISAR), and depoling currents into short-circuit loads were measured with normally poled samples. The results to date show that both mechanical and electrical properties of PZT 95/5 are quite sensitive to the level of porosity, but not the pore morphology.