Design and validation of a new fixture for the shear testing of cellular solids

The design and validation of a new fixture for the shear testing of cellular solids are presented. The fixture is an extended version of a picture-frame shear fixture (EPF) and is suited for comparatively thick rectangular block specimens. The stress state in the specimen is analyzed using a detailed finite element model. The finite element model is based on a 3D CAD model and incorporates friction in the revolute joints. Using specimens with low stiffness, a nearly pure and uniform shear stress state is induced in the specimen. A correction factor for the shear stress is derived which takes into account the friction in the joints and the nonuniformity of the shear stress distribution in the gauge section. The shear response of the polymer foam Rohacell^® 200 WF is determined in order to demonstrate the capabilities of the EPF. The strain state is analyzed by means of digital image correlation and is detected to be very pure and uniform on the specimen’s surface, as predicted by the numerical analysis. The shear modulus obtained with the EPF is in good agreement with the calculated shear modulus derived from tensile tests on the same material. In addition, there is only little scatter of the strength values over the tested specimens which further confirms the accuracy of the new fixture.     

A shear-compression specimen for large strain testing

A new specimen geometry, the shear-compression specimen (SCS), has been developed for large strain testing of materials. The specimen consists of a cylinder in which two diametrically opposed slots are machined at 45° with respect to the longitudinal axis, thus forming the test gage section. The specimen was analyzed numerically for two representative material models, and various gage geometries. This study shows that the stress (strain) state in the gage, is three-dimensional rather than simple shear as would be commonly assumed. Yet, the dominant deformation mode in the gage section is shear, and the stresses and strains are rather uniform. Simple relations were developed and assessed to relate the equivalent true stress and equivalent true plastic strain to the applied loads and displacements. The specimen was further validated through experiments carried out on OFHC copper, by comparing results obtained with the SCS to those obtained with compression cylinders. The SCS allows to investigate a large range of strain rates, from the quasi-static regime, through intermediate strain rates (1–100 s⁻¹), up to very high strain rates (2×10⁴s⁻¹ in the present case).     

A Shear Compression Disk Specimen with Controlled Stress Triaxiality under Quasi-Static Loading

This paper introduces a double shear axisymmetric specimen (Shear Compression Disk) and the methodology to extract flow and fracture properties of ductile materials, under various stress triaxiality levels. A thorough numerical investigation of the experimental set-up is performed, which reveals that the stresses are quite uniformly distributed in the gauge section during all the stages of the test. The attainable level of stress triaxiality (with pressures of up to 1.9 GPa) ranges from −0.1 to 1, which can be adjusted by a proper choice of geometrical parameters of the specimen. The methodology is implemented to quasi-static experiments on 4340 Steel and Aluminum 7075-T651 specimens. The flow properties are compared to those obtained by upsetting cylinders and show a very good agreement. For these materials it is observed that, contrary to the fracture strain, the flow properties are quite insensitive to the level of stress triaxiality. The fracture strain of the aluminum alloy increases with triaxiality and may be fitted with an exponential polynomial of the type suggested by [27]. These examples demonstrate the potential of the new specimen to obtain flow and fracture properties of ductile materials under controlled triaxiality.     

A New Shear-Compression-Specimen for Determining Quasistatic and Dynamic Polymer Properties

A new design of the shear compression specimen (SCS) for investigating the viscoelastic shear response of polymers is presented. The specimen consists of a polymer gage section with two metal ends that remain essentially rigid during deformation. Two closed-form analytic models are developed to predict the average stress and strain in the gage section from the deformation-load histories. This new SCS design and its analytic models are thoroughly evaluated via laboratory measurements and numerical simulations. These simulations show that the deformations in the gage section are more uniform than in the original design, and the distribution of the average shear stress and strain are highly homogenous. The simulation results yield good agreement with those of closed-form analytic results and the experiments demonstrate that the new SCS geometry and its analytic models are as reliable as other commonly employed specimens. It can also generate higher strain rates under usual loading conditions because of its smaller specimen gage length. The need for care in specimen preparation is also discussed in detail as illuminated by the experimental and simulation results.

A study of localisation in dual-phase high-strength steels under dynamic loading using digital image correlation and FE analysis

Tensile tests were conducted on dual-phase high-strength steel in a Split-Hopkinson Tension Bar at a strain-rate in the range of 150–600/s and in a servo-hydraulic testing machine at a strain-rate between 10^?3 and 10⁰/s. A novel specimen design was utilized for the Hopkinson bar tests of this sheet material. Digital image correlation was used together with high-speed photography to study strain localisation in the tensile specimens at high rates of strain. By using digital image correlation, it is possible to obtain in-plane displacement and strain fields during non-uniform deformation of the gauge section, and accordingly the strains associated with diffuse and localised necking may be determined. The full-field measurements in high strain-rate tests reveal that strain localisation started even before the maximum load was attained in the specimen. An elasto-viscoplastic constitutive model is used to predict the observed stress–strain behaviour and strain localisation for the dual-phase steel. Numerical simulations of dynamic tensile tests were performed using the non-linear explicit FE code LS-DYNA. Simulations were done with shell (plane stress) and brick elements. Good correlation between experiments and numerical predictions was achieved, in terms of engineering stress–strain behaviour, deformed geometry and strain fields. However, mesh density plays a role in the localisation of deformation in numerical simulations, particularly for the shell element analysis.     

Shear Testing of Polypropylene Materials Analysed by Digital Image Correlation and Numerical Simulations

Distributions of shear strains and strain states (triaxiality) were analysed for two in-plane shear test fixtures (Iosipescu and V-notched rail), using digital image correlation and numerical simulations. Three different polypropylene-based materials (two talc-filled compounds and one unfilled homopolymer) were tested. The three materials behaved differently in the shear tests. Most notably, cracks developed in tension near the notches for the particle-filled materials, while the unfilled homopolymer did not fracture. There were also differences between the materials regarding strain localisation between the notches, strain rates vs. strain level (for a given cross-head speed), thickness change in the sheared section, and triaxiality. The yield stresses in shear, uniaxial tension and uniaxial compression showed pressure sensitivity. At least for equivalent strain rates below 1?s^?1, the strain rate sensitivity of the yield stress was approximately the same in these three stress states. The stress?Cstrain curves obtained with the two methods were quite similar for these materials. There were some differences between the methods regarding the ease of mounting and aligning specimens, the complexity of specimen deformation patterns, and the uniformity of the shear strain distribution between the notches.     

Sensitivity of the shear gage to normal strains

This paper documents an experimental study that was conducted to demonstrate the sensitivity of the shear gage to the presence of normal strains. The shear gage is a specially designed strain gage rosette that measures the average shear strain in the test section of notched specimens such as the losipescu, Arcan and compact shear specimens. These specimens can have complicated stress states with high shear and normal strain gradients. To evaluate the sensitivity of the shear gage to normal strains, shear gages were tested on an Arcan specimen. The Arcan specimen is a notched specimen that can be loaded in pure shear (90 deg), pure tension (0 deg) and at intermediate 15- deg increments. The shear modulus for an aluminum specimen was determined at each of these loading angles. It was found that the gages display nearly zero sensitivity to normal strains ( _x, _y). Moiré interferometry was used to document the shear and normal strain distributions in the test section and to provide an independent method for determining the average shear strain. These results reinforce the robust nature of testing with the shear gage.     

The shear gage: For reliable shear modulus measurements of composite materials

A special strain gage called the shear gage was developed for composite materials testing with notched shear specimens. The shear-gage records the average shear strain across the entire test section between the notches of the losipescu and compact shear specimens rather than just sampling the shear strain over a small region in the center of the test section. Hence, the shear stress/strain response is obtained by dividing the average shear stress (load divided by the cross-sectional area between the notches) by the average shear strain. By placing gages on both faces of the specimen, accurate and repeatable shear-modulus measurements can be made without prior knowledge of the shear strain or stress distributions. This scheme essentially integrates the shear strain through the entire test section. Knowledge of other material properties is not required to accurately determine shear modulus values. The shear gage was tested on a variety of composite and isotropic materials resulting in more reliable shear modulus determination and less scatter than previously possible.     

Determination of Yield Surfaces in Accordance With ISO 16842 Using an Optimized Cruciform Test Specimen

Background: For the standard ISO 16842 cruciform test specimen, stresses obtained from the gauge area are far below the ultimate tensile strength due to high stress concentrations at the slit ends which lead to premature failure. Objective: To introduce a new cruciform specimen design which has been optimized with respect to the determination of yield surfaces. Methods: The proposed design differs from the ISO standard by an additional thinning of the gauge area and wider slits in the arms to avoid stress singularities. Compared to other cruciform test piece designs found in the literature, the stress distribution is still homogeneous and there is no need to reduce the size of the gauge area, thanks to the specimen’s well-balanced proportions. Results: Biaxial tensile tests have been conducted with aluminium 5754 alloy samples of different thicknesses. For the standard cruciform test piece, the maximum strain achieved at the gauge area is only 25% of the fracture strain. The optimized cruciform test piece can attain about 66% of the fracture strain before breaking. Conclusions: The optimized specimen design enables the measurement of yield surfaces at higher stress levels. In case of other materials such as elastomers, the slit length has be to adjusted accordingly.

     

Experimental and Numerical Analysis of an In-Plane Shear Specimen Designed for Ductile Fracture Studies

An in-plane shear specimen made of dual phase steel designed for ductile fracture studies is presented and then analyzed experimentally and numerically. In the experiment, digital image correlation (DIC) technique is utilized to measure the deformation of the specimen. Based on the implicit nonlinear FE solver Abaqus/Standard, numerical analysis of the specimen is performed by using plane stress and solid elements respectively. The elongation of the specimen’s gauge length and the shear strain distribution within the shear zone are compared between the experimental and numerical results and a general good agreement is obtained. Thereafter, based on calculated results, the stress state of the shear zone is investigated in detail. It is shown that the shear stress is dominant within the shear zone despite of the emergence of normal stresses. The deformation is concentrated in the shear zone, where the incipient fracture is most likely to occur. The stress triaxiality and the Lode parameter at the fracture initiation are found to be maintained at a relatively low level, which implies that the stress state achieved by the specimen is close to pure shear. The present study demonstrates that the proposed in-plane shear specimen is suitable for investigation of the fracture behavior of high strength materials under shear stress states.     

Is There An Optimal Gauge Length for Dynamic Tensile Specimens?

This paper addresses the issue of the dynamic tensile specimen gauge length through an experimental-numerical approach. Emphasis is put on the combined issue of specimen equilibrium and uniformity of the stress and the strain fields in the gauge. The systematic comparison of long and short specimens reveals the unexpected, namely the superiority of the long specimen in terms of the strain and stress uniformity, which in turn affects the accuracy of the experimental stress–strain curve, while excellent force equilibrium is obtained. The feasibility of longer dynamic tensile specimens adds a new degree of freedom to the specimen’s design, while allowing for characterization of materials at lower strain rates.     

Process zone in the Single Cantilever Beam under transverse loading - Part II: Experimental

This paper describes an experimental arrangement to evaluate stress/strain fields in the process zone of asymmetric adhesively bonded joints. A transparent polycarbonate flexible beam was bonded to an aluminium alloy rigid block with an epoxy adhesive in a Single Cantilever Beam (SCB) configuration. The flexible adherend was loaded in the direction parallel to the initial crack front at constant rate. To monitor strains induced by bending and shear along the beam, electric strain gauges were attached to the upper surface of the flexible adherend. Thus strain distribution was measured above the bonded surface, which could be used to monitor crack propagation and investigate stress redistribution in the process zone. A Timoshenko beam lying on a Pasternak elastic foundation model was used for the analysis of experimental findings. Subsequently, the Digital Image Correlation technique was used to measure the flexible substrate in-plane displacement field in the vicinity of the crack front and to assess the specimen kinematics. We found that strain gauge instrumentation of the fracture mechanics specimen was a very sensitive technique for experimental analysis of crack propagation under complex loading, offering fine investigation of stress distribution in the cohesive zone.     

In situ determination of adhesive shear moduli using strain gages

A new, convenient and cost-effective method of determining in situ adhesive shear moduli using strain gages is proposed and evaluated. Thick-adherend lap shear specimens with stacked gage rosettes at the center of the bond line are loaded in tension for adhesive shear strain measurement. Experimental and numerical results indicate that the test specimen has a nonuniform adhesive shear stress (or strain) distribution in the test section and that this distribution (except at the center point of the bond line) is greatly affected by load eccentricity. In addition to the nonuniformity in the shear stress distribution, the issue of material nonhomogeneity in the gage-covered region affects the strain gage measurement. By taking into account these two issues and assuming linear-elastic behavior, two approaches for converting the gage-measured shear strain into the adhesive shear strain are developed and verified by experiment. It is shown that the strain gage measurement associated with either of two conversion techniques can determine the in situ adhesive shear moduli, which are comparable with moiré experiment and KRG-1 extensometer measurements.     

Technique for Combined Dynamic Compression–Shear Testing of PBXs

We modify the split Hopkinson pressure bar and propose a compression–shear experimental method to investigate the dynamic behavior of polymer-bonded explosives (PBXs). The main apparatuses used include an incident bar with a wedge-shaped end and two transmission bars. We employ Y-cut quartzes with a rotation angle of 17.7° to measure the shear force and an optical system for shear strain measurement. A PBX with a density of 1.7 g/cm³ is investigated using the proposed method. Experimental results show that the specimen endures both compression and shear failure. Compression failure stress rises, and shear failure stress decreases as the strain rate increases. The sequences of shear and compression failure times are various at different strain rates. Based on the maximum shear failure criterion, we conclude that these phenomena are related to the experimental loading path.     

Development of a portable shear test fixture for low modulus porous (foam) materials

The shear properties of brittle and highly porous carbon (graphitic) foam cannot be measured reliably with most standard test methods, such as single rail, double rail, Iosipescu shear, etc. A new testing device has been developed to accurately measure the shear stiffness and strength of carbon foam or other porous materials. Specimens of cylindrical cross section are used to reduce the high stress concentration that normally occurs in the vicinity of the grip section. Since strain gages could not be installed on the specimen surface (due to porosity), the shear strain is determined from the specimen end rotation. A high resolution in the rotational measurement is achieved by using a stepper motor with multiple gear reduction. In view of testing low modulus material, the load cell of the fixture was mounted onto an axial roller to relieve the axial constraint while twisting the specimens. The accuracy of the measurement and calibration of the test fixture has been demonstrated by measuring the shear modulus of two plastic (polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and urethane).     

A New Experimental Technique for the Multi-axial Testing of Advanced High Strength Steel Sheets

This paper deals with the development of a new experimental technique for the multi-axial testing of flat sheets and its application to advanced high strength steels. In close analogy with the traditional tension-torsion test for bulk materials, the sheet material is subject to combined tension and shear loading. Using a custom-made dual actuator hydraulic testing machine, combinations of normal and tangential loading are applied to the boundaries of a flat sheet metal specimen. The specimen shape is optimized to provide uniform stress and strain fields within its gage section. Finite element simulations are carried out to verify the approximate formulas for the shear and normal stress components at the specimen center. The corresponding strain fields are determined from digital image correlation. Two test series are performed on a TRIP-assisted steel sheet. The experimental results demonstrate that this new experimental technique can be used to investigate the large deformation behavior of advanced high strength steel sheets. The evolution of the yield surface of the TRIP700 steel is determined for both radial and non-proportional loading paths.     

High Temperature Shear Strength of T650-35/HFPE-II-52 Polyimide Matrix Unidirectional Composite

The shear strength of a 4-ply unidirectional composite laminate consisting of carbon fibers (T650-35) and a polyimide matrix (HFPE-II-52) was measured over a temperature range of 25 to 315°C. The tests were performed using a Iosipescu test sample, modified to provide a more uniform shear stress distribution across the gauge section and loaded with an Arcan type test fixture. The test specimen design is based on the results of an extensive finite element study. Shear strength tests were performed on dry, 50% RH and 100% RH moisture saturated samples. Results of the experiment show that shear strength decreases from approximately 120 MPa at 25°C to 60 MPa at 315°C and that moisture saturated samples have a 5–10 MPa lower shear strength than dry samples.     

A Shear Compression Disk Specimen with Controlled Stress Triaxiality Under Dynamic Loading

This paper presents an experimental and numerical study of the potential of the Shear Compression Disk specimen (SCD) to characterize the plastic flow and fracture of metals under various levels of stress triaxiality at strain rates of up to 10⁴ 1/s. The main loading mode in that specimen is shear with triaxiality ranging from 0 to -0.8. The specimen is relatively small and fits into a standard split Hopkinson pressure bar system. Aluminum 7075-T651 alloy was chosen for a test case study. Experimental and numerical investigations reveal the adequacy of the SCD specimen for the study of mechanical properties of materials under high strain-rates and low, though wide, range of stress triaxialities.     

Novel Technique for Static and Dynamic Shear Testing of Ti6Al4V Sheet

Few shear test techniques exist that cover the range of strain rates from static to dynamic. In this work, a novel specimen geometry is presented that can be used for the characterisation of the shear behaviour of sheet metals over a wide range of strain rates using traditional tensile test devices. The main objectives during the development of the shear specimen have been 1) obtaining a homogeneous stress state with low stress triaxiality in the zone of the specimen subjected to shear and 2) appropriateness for dynamic testing. Additionally, avoiding premature specimen failure due to edge effects was aimed at. Most dimensional and practical constraints arose from the dynamic test in which the specimen is loaded by mechanical waves in a split Hopkinson tensile bar device. Design of the specimen geometry is based on finite element simulations using ABAQUS/Explicit. The behaviour of the specimen is compared with the more commonly used simple shear specimen with clamped grips. Advantages of the new technique are shown. The technique is applied to Ti6Al4V sheet. During the high strain rate experiments high speed photography and digital image correlation are used to obtain the local shear strain in the specimen. Comparison of experimental and numerical results shows good correspondence.     

In-plane shear testing of graphite-woven fabric composites

The losipescu shear test method was used to determine the in-plane shear response of AS4 and Celion carbon fiber/epoxy fabric composite materials. Several weave architectures were studied: AS4 uniweave, AS4 and Celion plain weaves, Celion 5-harness and 8-harness satin weaves. Specimens were tested using traditional strain gage techniques and full-field moiré interferometry. A full-node localized hybrid analysis is introduced to perform efficient reduction of moiré data, producing whole-field strain distributions in the specimen test section. It was found that the fabric yarn size greatly influenced the uniformity of the shear field in the specimen test section. However, consistent shear moduli still can be obtained using the modified losipescu specimen and Wyoming fixture except for fabrics with large fiber yarns.