# Failure Mechanism of Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors under Transient High Impact
## 1 Introduction  
A penetration weapon is a kind of high-value ammunition used for attacking strategic hard targets, such as weapon depots, missile launching sites, airport runways, and command centers. A penetration fuze is the \"brain\" of a penetrating weapon system, which precisely controls the burst point [1]. For the penetration fuze, a reliable power supply is the basis of its normal functioning. So, the multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC), which is the main energy-storage component of a penetration fuze, plays an important role in the reliability of the whole penetration weapon. Because the penetration fuze experiences an extreme impact, mechanical environment (acceleration up to hundreds of thousands of gravity \(g\), lasting for a millisecond-wide pulse) [2; 3], the reliability of the MLCC under high impact is very important.  
Previous studies on the reliability of an MLCC under high-acceleration impact mostly focused on structural failure [4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10; 11]. [PERSON] et al. established a finite element simulation model for electrical, mechanical, and thermal coupling of an MLCC [12]; [PERSON] et al. used a multi-scale homogenization modeling method to characterize the structural characteristics of multilayer ceramic capacitors [13]; [PERSON] et al. used the equivalent mechanical model to describe the impact-driven deformation of an MLCC and reveals that the electric field distortion resulting from the deformation can easily causec ceramic capacitor failure [14]; and [PERSON] et al. discussed the failure of an MLCC through a high overload impact dynamic experiment and analyzed the influence of such a failure on the fuze system [15]. At present, the dynamic impact experiment and mechanical failure modeling are the most common ways to study the failure of an MLCC.  
However, even there is no structural failure, it does not mean that no functional failure occurs in the MLCC and other electronic devices. Current research hotspots are focused on stress concentration and structural damage due to high impact. In actual working conditions, the MLCC did not have structural damage, but the penetration fuze still misfired due to the parameter drift. This paper focuses on the failure mechanism of an MLCC under high-impact conditions. In addition, it has been revealed that the tantalum capacitors and supercapacitors, two other kinds of energy-storage devices for a penetration fuze, still have capacitance parameter fluctuation without structural damage under a high-acceleration impact [16]. [PERSON] et al. studied a fuze misfire caused by the sudden increase in leakage current of the tantalum capacitor under a high-\(g\) impact load [17]. Therefore, for an MLCC subjected to a strong impact, besides the structural failure, the functional failure problem of the parameter fluctuation is also important for practical application. However, the research in this area is still relatively scarce. In this paper, the changes in MLCC capacitance and leakage current upon subjection to a high impact are presented in real time, and the internal mechanism causing the electrical parameter changes is studied by physical field modeling and equivalent circuit modeling, which provides significant guiding towards the reliable use of an MLCC in a penetration fuze.