High-rate decremental-strain-rate test

A modified torsional split-Hopkinson bar is intoduced and used to study material response associated with a sudden reduction of stain rate during high-rate plastic deformation. In tests on 1100-0 aluminum iniial deformation at a strain rate of approximately 2400 s⁻¹ is reduced by a factor of 15 after 200 μs of high-rate deformation. After the reduction, the deformation continues at the low rate for additional 550 μs. The change in the strain rate is obtained by using a stepped input bar. The results for 1100-0 aluminum show a decrease in the flow stress following the reduction in the strain rate. A short delay exists between the beginning of the strain-rate reduction and the response of the stress. The magnitude of the drop in the stress agrees with the difference in flow stress expected in constant-strain-rate tests in the corresponding high- and low-strain rates. Following the stress reduction. The stress remains essentially constant with no hardening during the subsequent deformation at the low rate.     

The dependence of yield stress on strain rate as determined from ball-indentation tests

A ball-indentation experiment was conducted to explore the possibility of using this test for the investigation of strain-rate dependence of yield properties of materials. The initial velocities of indentation used were between 0.0002 and 3 ips. Force and depth of penetration were measured continuously during a test. Using these and the results given in a previous report, the dependence of yield pressure of the indentation test on penetration velocity is shown for a range of velocities from 0.0002 to 300 ips. Results are presented for annealed C1018 steel, annealed 1100 F and annealed 6061-T6 aluminums. For all materials tested, the dependence of yield stress on strain rate seems to be derivable from the ball-indentation results by using Tabor's empirical formulas and an equation relating strain rate and velocity of penetration. The increase of yield pressure over the range of indentation velocities is 100 percent for steel, 30 percent for 1100 aluminum and 20 percent for 6061 aluminum.     

Tensile testing of materials at high rates of strain

A tension version of the split Hopkinson bar or Kolsky apparatus is developed for conducting tests in tension at high rates of strain up to 10³ s^?1. A number of aluminum, titanium, and steel alloys tested in tension show increasing degrees of rate sensitivity above 10 to 10² s^?1. Tests on 6061-T651 and 7075-T6 aluminum show measurable strain-rate sensitivity in tension at the highest strain rates, although similar tests in compression in the literature show essentially no strain-rate sensitivity. Details of the apparatus and instrumentation and guidelines for its use are presented.     

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.     

Strain-rate history and temperature effects on the torsional-shear behavior of a mild steel

Previous investigations on the effects of strain-rate and temperature histories on the mechanical behavior of steel are briefly reviewed. A study is presented on the influence of strain rate and strain-rate history on the shear behavior of a mild steel, over a wide range of temperature Experiments were performed on thin-walled tubular specimens of short gage length, using a torsional split-Hopkinson-bar apparatus adapted to permit quasi-static as well as dynamic straining at different temperatures. The constant-rate behavior was first measured at nominal strain rates of 10^?3 and 10³ s^?1 for ?150, ?100, ?50, 20, 200 and 400°C. Tests were then carried out, at the same temperatures, in which the strain rate was suddenly increased during deformation from the lower to the higher rate at various large values of plastic strain. The increase in rate occurred in a time of the order of 20 μs so that relatively little change of strain took place during the jump. The low strain-rate results show a well-defined elastic limit but no yield drop, a small yield plateau is found at room temperature. The subsequent strain hardening shows a maximum at 200°C, when serrated flow occurs and the ductility is reduced. The high strain-rate results show a considerable drop of stress at yield. The post-yield flow stress decreases steadily with increasing temperature, throughout the temperature range investigated. At room temperature and below, the strain-hardening rate becomes negative at large strains. The adiabatic temperature rise in the dynamic tests was computed on the assumption that the plastic work is entirely converted to heat. This enabled the isothermal dynamic stress-strain curves to be calculated, and showed that considerable thermal softening took place. The initial response to a strain-rate jump is approximately elastic, and has a magnitude which increases with decrease of testing temperature; it is little affected by the amount of prestrain. At 200 and 400° C, a yield drop occurs after the initial stress increment. The post-jump flow stress is always greater than that for the same strain in a constant-rate dynamic test, the strain-hardening rate becoming negative at large strains or low testing temperature. This observed effect of strain-rate history cannot be explained by the thermal softening accompanying dynamic deformation. These and other results concerning total ductility under various strain-rate and temperature conditions show that strain-rate history strongly affects the mechanical behavior of the mild steel tested and, hence, should be taken into account in the formulation of constitutive equations for that material.     

Dynamic pre-strain and inertia effects on the fracture of metals

A combined experimental and theoretical study is described which examines the influence of strain-rate and dynamic pre-strain on the ductile fracture of thin cylinders. The thin-cylinder configuration is particularly important in this case because it allows inertia terms to be directly incorporated into the theory of plastic instability. A series of quasi-static and dynamic tests is conducted on three materials with differing degrees of strain-rate sensitivity and strain-hardening. The experimental observation that fracture is inhibited at high strain-rates is in accord with the theory when inertia can no longer be considered insignificant. It is also shown that dynamic pre-strain has little or no effect on the flow stress or the strain at fracture in materials which-are essentially strain-rate insensitive, but does reduce the fracture strain in the strain-rate sensitive materials.     

Mechanical behavior of Gamma-Met PX under uniaxial loading at elevated temperatures and high strain rates

Gamma titanium aluminides have received considerable attention over the last decade. These alloys are known to have low density, good high temperature strength retention and good oxidation and corrosion resistance. However, poor ductility and low fracture toughness have been the key limiting factors in the full utilization of these alloys. More recently, a new generation of gamma titanium aluminide alloys, commonly referred to as Gamma-Met PX, has been developed by GKSS, Germany. These alloys have been observed to have superior strength and better oxidation resistance at elevated temperatures when compared with conventional gamma titanium aluminides.The present paper discusses results of a study to understand the uniaxial mechanical behavior in both compression and tension of Gamma-Met PX at elevated temperatures and high strain rates. The compression and tensile tests are conducted using a modified Split-Hopkinson Bar apparatus at test temperatures ranging from room temperature to 900 °C and strain rates of up to 3500 s⁻¹. Under uniaxial compression, in the temperature range from room to 600 °C, the flow stress is observed to be nearly independent of test temperature. However, at temperatures higher than 600 °C thermal softening is observed at all strain rates with the rate of thermal softening increasing dramatically between 800 and 900 °C. The room temperature tensile tests show negligible strain-rate dependence on both yield stress and flow stress. With an increase in test temperature from room to 900 °C, the material shows a drop in both yield and flow stress at all levels of plastic strain. However, the measured flow stress is still higher when compared to nickel based super-alloys and other gamma titanium aluminides under similar test conditions. Also, no anomaly in yield stress is observed up to 900 °C.     

Effect of plastic deformation on the acoustoelastic response of some materials

Acoustoelastic birefringence is measured with the acoustic polarimeter by transmitting ultrasonic shear waves at two perpendicular polarizations through the thickness of several uniaxial test specimens. The results are availablefor the following materials: SAE 1010 and SAE 4118 steel, pure titanium, 2024 aluminum and 60\2-40 brass, but are only presented here for SAE 4118 steel and pure titanium. The uniaxial test specimens have been subjected to plastic deformation followed by complete unloading. It is shown that the assumption that the plastic flow leading to the residual-stress state does not change the acoustic response of the material, does not hold for all materials and that further characterization development is required for general quantitative residual-stress determination.     

超强钢18NiC250在不同加载速率下的断裂韧性

为了揭示国产超强钢18NiC250的强度、断裂韧性随加载速率的变化规律,利用电子万能试验机和Hopkinson压杆,测试其在0.001～2 000 s-1的塑性流动应力应变曲线及在10-1~106 MPam1/2/s的断裂韧性,同时对断裂破坏机理进行了微观分析。结果表明:该材料的强度对加载速率不敏感,即流动应力基本保持在1.9 GPa;而断裂韧性很敏感,当加载速率由10-1 MPam1/2/s增大到106 MPam1/2/s时,断裂韧性降低了38.2%,断裂模式由韧窝断裂转变为解理断裂。     

Pressure-shear waves in 6061-T6 aluminum and alpha-titanium

Thepressure-shear plate impact technique is used to study material behavior at high rates of deformation. In this technique, plastic waves of combined pressure and shear stresses are produced by impact of parallel plates skewed relative to their direction of approach. Commercially pure alpha-titanium and 6061-T6 aluminum are tested under a variety of pressure and shear tractions by using different combinations of impact velocities and angles of inclination. A laser interferometer system is used to monitor simultaneously the normal and transverse components of motion of a point at the rear surface of the target plate. The experimental results are compared with numerical solutions based on an elastic/viscoplastic model of the material. Both isotropic and kinematic strain hardening models are used in the computations. The results indicate that unlike the normal velocity profiles, the transverse velocity profiles are sensitive to the dynamic plastic response and, thus, can be used to study material behavior at high strain rates. For the materials tested the results suggest that the flow stress required for plastic straining increases markedly with increasing strain rate at strain rates above 10⁴s^?1. Hydrostatic pressure of the order that exists in the tests (up to 2 GPa) does not affect the plastic flow in 6061-T6 aluminum and appears to have at most a minor effect on the deformation of the titanium.     

Dynamic strain aging and related instabilities: experimental,theoretical and numerical aspects

Experimental data from uniaxial tensile tests on smooth and notched specimens of aluminium alloy 5083-H116 show that the material exhibits negative strain-rate sensitivity for strain rates within a certain range. The negative strain-rate dependence, which is attributed to dynamic strain aging, leads to serrated stress–strain curves, discontinuous plastic flow and propagating deformation bands during plastic straining (also denoted as the Portevin–Le Chatelier effect). Band analysis and linear perturbation analysis are performed using simple elastic-viscoplastic constitutive equations that include negative strain-rate sensitivity in a simplified manner. The negative strain-rate sensitivity allows for jumps in the plastic strain rate, which in turn permits the existence of localisation bands for the elastic-viscoplastic model. The simple elastic-viscoplastic constitutive model has been implemented in LS-DYNA, and non-linear finite element simulations of smooth and notched tensile test specimens are performed, allowing more detailed investigations into the effects of the negative strain-rate sensitivity on the material's behaviour.     

Compression-impact testing of aluminum at elevated temperatures

This paper presents and experimental technique for determining compressive stress-strain curves well into the plastic range of relatively soft metals at strain rates from 300 to 2000 sec^?1 at six temperatures from 30 to 550° C. More than 100 curves were obtained on annealed 1100° F aluminum. The strain-rate dependence in these tests could be fitted quite well either by a power function (log-log plot) or by a semilogarithmic plot, but the power function gave a better correlation of the present data with that obtained at lower strain rates by Alder and Phillips.¹     

Adiabatic shear localization in the dynamic punch test,part I: experimental investigation

The behavior of 1018 steel, 6061-T6 aluminum, and titanium 6%Al–4%V alloy during a dynamic punch test is investigated. Specifically, the possibility and affects of adiabatic shear localization are examined. The three materials are chosen to encompass a wide range of physical properties. Punch tests are conducted at average shear strain rates from 10⁻³ to 10⁴ s⁻¹ on a servo-hydraulic compression machine, a mechanical press, and a Hopkinson bar apparatus. Experimental load displacement curves are obtained and fractographic and metallographic analysis is performed. Finite element simulations of punching operations are performed in the second part of this two part investigation to examine internal deformation not visible during experimental tests. More specifically, the role of adiabatic shear localization in burr formation is determined. Adiabatic shear localization occurs in the titanium alloy for the mechanical press and Hopkinson bar tests, while localization is not present for the 6061-T6 aluminum in any test. The 1018 steel begins to exhibit some transitional behavior toward shear localization in the Hopkinson bar experiments. It is seen that in the materials tested here, a combination of high strength and low strain hardening make a material more susceptible to adiabatic shear localization in punching operations.     

Modeling of Temperature and Strain-Rate Effects in Metals Using an Internal Variable Model

The thermo-viscoplastic behavior of three metals is characterized in a large range of loading conditions by using a new phenomenological constitutive model. The flow stress is decomposed into the sum of an effective stress with an internal stress depending upon an internal parameter which describes the strain hardening effect. The evolution of the internal stress is sensitive to the history of strain-rate and temperature. A systematic method is used for determining the model’s parameters. The model predictions show a good correlation with experimental data. Temperature history effects are especially analyzed.     

Effect of strain rate on crack growth in aluminum alloy 1100-0

Stress and damage analysis are performed to analyze the Mode I crack growth behavior of a central crack panel made of aluminum alloy 1100-0. On account of the highly nonhomogeneous stress state, each material element would experience a different strain rate depending on the location and loading rate. A data bank of uniaxial stress and strain curves is provided to cover the range local strain rates depending on the load time history. Such a approach is referred to as the strain rate dependent model in contrast to plasticity that utilizes a single constitutive relation.The strain energy density criterion is applied to determine the onset of crack initiation, stable crack growth and final termination. A unique feature of the approach is that the same criterion could describe the foregoing three distinct events of fracture behavior. Results are obtained for applied loads with different strain rates and compared with those obtained from the classical theory of plasticity, which is unconservative.     

Strain-rate history effects and microstructural aspects in lithium fluoride and aluminium single crystals after dynamic loading

Single crystals of LiF and Al are deformed in shear at a number of constant strain-rates in the range 10^–4 to 1600 s^–1. These constant rate tests are supplemented by a series of jump tests in which a sharp increment in strain rate is imposed during the quasi-static straining. Dislocation arrangements are observed by etch-pits technique for LiF crystals and by TEM for Al crystals. It is shown that cell sizes vary inversely with flow stress and strain-rate sensitivity.     

Deformation behavior of tantalum and a tantalum tungsten alloy

A comparative study of the deformation behavior of tantalum and a tantalum 2.5 wt.% tungsten alloy is carried out. High strain-rate experimental data are used to develop phenomenological constitutive relations. The temperature and the strain-rate sensitivity of the flow stresses are compared. It is observed that although the flow stress for the Ta–2.5%W alloy is greater than that of Ta, the corresponding temperature and strain-rate sensitivity is less pronounced. Ta–2.5%W experiences a solid-solution softening, wherein the athermal stress component has increased, while the thermal component has decreased by the alloying.     

5083H111铝合金宽应变率拉伸动态本构模型

结合5083H111铝合金较宽应变率范围2×10-4 ~ 4×102s-1内的拉伸实验数据,揭示该铝合金的拉伸“V”型率效应特征,分析对数应变率敏感系数λ和切线模量Et的应变率和应变相关性,进而通过对Johnson-Cook模型的修正来建立合理描述5083H111铝合金较宽应变率范围内的动态拉伸本构模型。建立的动态本构模型中,流动应力包括应变率相关和应变相关两部分。该模型合理描述了5083H111铝合金的拉伸“V”型率效应特征,预测结果与实验结果较为一致。另外,结合破坏应变的对数应变率敏感系数β,得到了拉伸破坏应变预测方程,其预测结果也与实验结果基本一致。     

The biaxial loading response of powder aluminum at elevated temperature

Nuclear fuel can be fabricated using powder-metallurgy processes by compacting uranium-oxide powder with aluminum powder to form a cermet and then extruding the cermet to form fuel tubes. This method of production allows greater control of uranium-oxide particle size and distribution in the tube, making the production of fuel with greater concentrations of uranium oxide possible, and thus decreasing the volume of radioactive waste remaining after the fuel is spent. As the concentration of uranium oxide increases, however, there is an increase in failures during extrusion. To address this problem, an experimental procedure was developed to examine the response of powder aluminum, a material with a structure similar to that of the cermet fuel, to biaxial loadings such as those experienced during extrusion. Biaxial loadings can be varied from pure shear to simple tension or compression, or to combinations of these loadings in a numerically controlled ‘tension-torsion’ testing machine. Data obtained using this system were used to develop a model for the post-yield behavior in extruded powder aluminum which includes information derived both from the macroscopic stress-strain behavior of 1100 aluminum and extruded powder aluminum and from the observed microscopic structure of the extruded powder aluminum. This paper describes the development of the experimental system and shows the different biaxial mechanical behavior of the two materials. Test fixtures were developed and software was written to control constant strain-rate tension, compression, torsion, combined tension-torsion, and combined compression-torsion tests performed using a computer-controlled MTS biaxial testing machine. Extruded powder aluminum and 1100 aluminum specimens were tested at 427°C, the powder-aluminum extrusion temperature, under those loading conditions. Each specimen was subjected to only one loading cycle. Data were recorded during loading only. Tested specimens were also sectioned and examined microscopically.