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.     

Quasi-Static and Dynamic Large Strain Shear-Tension Testing

A new shear specimen is designed, evaluated and tested quasi-statically and dynamically. The specimen consists of a long cylinder having a horizontal gauge section created by two diametrically opposed semi-circular slots machined parallel to the longitudinal axis. This geometry imposes a rather uniform stress state, close to pure shear in the gauge section. Quasi-static and dynamic tension-shear tests up to a strain rate of 10⁴ 1/s were carried out on 1020 cold-drawn steel specimens. The obtained stress–strain curves and ductility were validated numerically. The new specimen can be used to study the shear mechanical characteristics of a material using tensile testing.     

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).     

岩石试件端面摩擦效应数值模拟研究

试件端面摩擦效应直接影响试件内的塑性等效应变、侧向位移的分布和单元应力应变曲线。本文运用ANSYS中的接触单元模拟了平面应变状态下端面摩擦效应对塑性等效应变、侧向位移和单元应力应变曲线的影响,得到了不同摩擦系数时塑性等效应变及侧向位移的渐进变化形式。当接触面摩擦较小时,塑性等效应变图案为上下两个X形网络,侧向位移上下分布均匀;当接触面摩擦增大时,塑性等效应变网络向中部靠拢并且明显增大,侧向位移上下分布不均匀,中部较上下端面位移大;当试件端面侧向位移被限制,即摩擦力很大时,塑性等效应变网络变为一个X形局部化带,侧向位移分布更加不均匀,中部明显隆起。     

Full Field Strain Measurement in Compression and Tensile Split Hopkinson Bar Experiments

The 3D image correlation technique is used for full field measurement of strain (and strain rate) in compression and tensile split Hopkinson bar experiments using commercial image correlation software and two digital high-speed cameras that provide a synchronized stereo view of the specimen. Using an array of 128 × 80 (compression tests) and 258 × 48 (tensile tests) pixels, the cameras record about 110,000 frames per second. A random dot pattern is applied to the surface of the specimens. The image correlation algorithm uses the dot pattern to define a field of overlapping virtual gage boxes, and the 3-D coordinates of the center of each gage box are determined at each frame. The coordinates are then used for calculating the strains throughout the surface of the specimen. The strains determined with the image correlation method are compared with those determined from analyzing the elastic waves in the bars, and with strains measured with strain gages placed on the specimens. The system is used to study the response of OFE C10100 copper. In compression tests, the image correlation shows a nearly uniform deformation which agrees with the average strain that is determined from the waves in the bars and the strains measured with strain gages that are placed directly on the specimen. In tensile tests, the specimen geometry and properties affect the outcome from the experiment. The full field strain measurement provides means for examining the validity and accuracy of the tests. In tests where the deforming section of the specimen is well defined and the deformation is uniform, the strains measured with the image correlation technique agree with the average strain that is determined from the split Hopkinson bar wave records. If significant deformation is taking place outside the gage section, and when necking develops, the strains determined from the waves are not valid, but the image correlation method provides the accurate full field strain history.     

A new method for the biaxial testing of cellular solids

Commercial cellular solids such as metal foams and honeycombs exhibit deformation and failure responses that are dependent on specimen size during testing. For foams, this size dependence originates from the fabrication-induced material and structural inhomogeneities, which cause the uncontrolled localization of deformation during the testing of foam cubes. Different peak loads and failure modes are observed in honeycomb specimens in the plate-shear configuration depending on specimen height. This size dependence causes difficulty in obtaining a more representative constitutive behavior of the material. It has recently been established that the size dependence under uniaxial compression can be eliminated with tapered cellular specimens, which enable controlled deformation at a given region of the specimen. This concept is extended in this paper to the biaxial testing of butterfly-shaped cellular specimens in the Arcan apparatus, which focuses deformation at the central section of the specimen. The Arcan apparatus has been modified such that all displacements at the boundaries of the specimen could be controlled during testing. As a consequence of this fully displacement controlled Arcan apparatus, a force perpendicular to that applied by the standard universal testing machine is generated and becomes significant. Thus, an additional load cell is integrated on the apparatus to measure this load. Example responses of butterfly-shaped specimens composed of aluminum alloy honeycomb, aluminum alloy foam and hybrid stainless-steel assembly are presented to illustrate the capabilities of this new testing method.     

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.     

火灾后T形型钢混凝土柱偏心受压力学性能试验研究

对7根T形型钢混凝土柱进行了火灾后的力学性能试验研究。火灾试验按照ISO834标准升温过程进行控制,1根未受火试件作为对比。T形型钢混凝土柱采用空腹式配钢形式,横向腹杆间距为200mm,试件通过偏心受压试验,考虑加载角和偏心距的影响。通过试验得到异形柱极限承载力、截面应变分布、荷载-挠度曲线以及截面特性。试验结果表明:(1)受火1h后,T形型钢混凝土柱仍然具有比较高的竖向承载力;(2)桁架式配钢方式以及合理的腹杆、箍筋布置保证了型钢与混凝土之间能够较好的协同工作,平截面假定对火灾后的T形型钢混凝土柱仍然适用;(3)荷载角和偏心距对试件的延性和变形能力影响显著。     

A Methodology for Obtaining Material Properties of Polymeric Foam at Elevated Temperatures

A new methodology to characterise the elastic properties of polymeric foam core materials at elevated temperatures is proposed. The focus is to determine reliable values of the tensile and compressive moduli and Poisson’s ratio based on strain data obtained using digital image correlation (DIC). In the paper a detailed coverage of the source of uncertainties in the experimental procedure is provided. The uncertainties include those associated with the load introduction, the measurement and the data processing. The design of the specimens and loading jigs are developed and assessed in terms of the introduction of uniform strain. It is shown that due to the mismatch in stiffness between the jig material and the foam the introduction of a uniform strain through the cross section of the specimens is difficult to obtain. A means for correcting for the non-uniform strain across the specimen cross section is developed. To validate the methodology, tests are firstly conducted at room temperature on Divinycell PVC H100 foam. It is shown that the material is highly anisotropic with a stiffness of 50% less in the plane of the foam sheet compared to the through-thickness direction. It is also shown that because of the compliance of the foam, jig misalignment causes large errors in the measurement, and a means for correcting for this is defined. Tests are then conducted in a temperature controlled chamber at elevated temperatures ranging from 20°C to 90°C. A nonlinear reduction in Young’s modulus is obtained with significant degradation occurring after 70°C. The Poisson’s ratio remains fairly stable at different temperatures. A strong theme in the paper is the accuracy and precision of the DIC data and the factors which introduce scatter in the data, along with the uncertainties that this introduces. Particular attention is paid to the affect of the correlation parameters on the derived strain data.     

滑轨导向式静/动态双轴拉伸实验技术

基于液压伺服高速加载系统,发展了一种材料双轴拉伸力学性能测试技术。利用锥面接触导向驱动方法,把加载锤竖直方向的驱动力转化为水平方向的双轴驱动力,从而实现对十字形试样平面双轴加载。借助有限元数值模拟手段优化了锥面接触角和十字形试样尺寸。当接触锥角为45°时,既有较好的水平驱动转化效率,同时又保持较小的接触力,确保水平驱动加载各组件在弹性变形范围内,可多次重复使用。确定了加载臂狭缝个数、狭缝与减薄区边缘长度和标距段厚度等试样设计关键参数,在十字形试样测试标距段内实现了均匀变形。设计了测力夹持一体化导杆和非接触光学全场应变测试系统,准确获得了试样的应力和应变。利用此平面双轴拉伸加载装置,开展2024-T351铝合金板单轴拉伸实验和激光探测同步性验证实验,验证装置设计的可行性;开展铝合金板材在不同加载速率下的双轴拉伸实验,得到在双轴加载下铝合金板材应力应变曲线,并与单轴加载下实验结果进行了对比分析。     

Large Deformation of Nitinol Under Shear Dominant Loading

Full-field quantitative strain maps of phase transformation and plasticity in Nitinol under large shear-dominated deformation are presented. To achieve a shear-dominated deformation mode with relatively uniform stresses and strains, a shear compression specimen (SCS) geometry was utilized. Shear deformation appears to impede the development of the strain localization during phase transformation that is seen in uniaxial testing. The shear-dominant deformation of Nitinol in the plastic regime exhibits low hardening and results in the development of significant strain inhomogeneity.     

Shock wave reflection off coupled surfaces

It has been shown that when a plane shock wave is reflected off a surface consisting of a 75-mm radius circular arc followed by a plane section inclined at 45°, it takes some time for the interaction to reach a pseudosteady reflection configuration. The current study extends this work at a constant Mach number of 1.346, with three compound walls, consisting of leading circular sections of 30, 50 and 75 mm radius, joined to a plane wall section. Testing was done at various wall angles for each of the test pieces. The reflected wave angle was measured and was found to increase along the plane wall section until it reached an asymptotic value, at which time pseudosteady flow was established. The asymptotic values are consistent with reflection off plane wedges and are independent of the leading radius. For lower wall angles which lead to Mach reflection the length required to reach pseudosteady flow increases as the wall angle increases to the pseudosteady transition angle. The reverse occurs when the final pseudosteady reflection is regular, in that as the wall angle increases the distance travelled to reach pseudosteady flow conditions decreases. Additional tests were conducted on a specimen consisting of a plane section at 60° wall angle with 30-mm radius circular arc sections at either end. It is demonstrated how the information from the two slope changes influences the shape of the reflected shock. The trajectories of two perturbations on the reflected shock arising from the joints between the circular sections and the plane wall show that the reflected wave remains linear between these two points, as it received no knowledge from either circular section until the perturbations from the upper and lower joints cross.     

M-shaped Specimen for the High-strain Rate Tensile Testing Using a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar Apparatus

An experimental technique is proposed to determine the tensile stress–strain curve of metals at high strain rates. An M-shaped specimen is designed which transforms a compressive loading at its boundaries into tensile loading of its gage section. The specimen can be used in a conventional split Hopkinson pressure bar apparatus, thereby circumventing experimental problems associated with the gripping of tensile specimens under dynamic loading. The M-specimen geometry provides plane strain conditions within its gage section. This feature retards necking and allows for very short gage sections. This new technique is validated both experimentally and numerically for true equivalent plastic strain rates of up to 4,250/s.     

Compression of solid and annular circular discs bonded to rigid surfaces

Although it is noted in the literature that the presence of a central hole in an elastic layer bonded to rigid surfaces can cause significant drop in its compression modulus, not much attention is given for investigating thoroughly and in detail the influence of the hole on the layer behavior. This paper presents analytical solutions to the problem of the uniform compression of bonded hollow circular elastic layers, which includes solid circular layers as a special case as the radius of hollow section vanishes. The closed-form expressions derived in this study are advanced in the sense that three of the commonly used assumptions in the analysis of bonded elastic layers are eliminated: (i) the incompressibility assumption, (ii) the “pressure” assumption and (iii) the assumption that plane sections remain plane after deformation. Through the use of the analytical solutions derived in the study, the compressive behavior of bonded circular discs is studied. Particular emphasis is given to the investigation of the effects of the existence of a central hole on the compression modulus, stress distributions and maximum stresses/strains in view of three key parameters: radius ratio of the hole, aspect ratio of the disc and Poisson’s ratio of the disc material.     

Sensitivity of in-Plane Strain Measurement to Calibration Parameter for out-of-Plane Specimen Rotations

In practice, out-of-plane motions usually are not avoidable during experiments. Since 2D–DIC measurements are vulnerable to parasitic deformations due to out-of-plane specimen motions, three-dimensional digital image correlation (StereoDIC or 3D–DIC) oftentimes is employed. The StereoDIC method is known to be capable of accurate deformation measurements for specimens subjected to general three-dimensional motions, including out-of-plane rotations and displacements. As a result, there has been limited study of the deformation measurements obtained when using StereoDIC to measure the displacement and strain fields for a specimen subjected only to out-of-plane rotation. To assess the accuracy of strain measurements obtained using stereovision systems and StereoDIC when a specimen undergoes appreciable out of plane rotation, rigid body out-of-plane rotation experiments are performed in the range ?40⁰?≤?θ?≤?40⁰ using a two-camera stereovision system. Results indicate that (a) for what would normally be considered “small angle” calibration processes, the measured normal strain in the foreshortened specimen direction due to specimen rotation increases in a non-linear manner with rotation angle, with measurement errors exceeding ±1400με and (b) for what would normally be considered “large angle” calibration processes, the magnitude of the errors in the strain are reduced to ±300με. To theoretically assess the effect of calibration parameters on the measurements, two separate analyses are performed. First, theoretical strains due to out-of-plane rigid body rotation are determined using a pinhole camera model to project a series of three-dimensional object points into the image plane using large angle calibration parameters and then re-project the corresponding sensor plane coordinates back into the plane using small angle calibration parameters. Secondly, the entire imaging process is also simulated in order to remove experimental error sources and to further validate the theory. Results from both approaches confirmed the same strain error trends as the experimental strain measurements, providing confidence that the source of the errors is the calibration process. Finally, variance based sensitivity analyses show that inaccuracy in the calibrated stereo angle parameter is the most significant factor affecting the accuracy of the measured strain.     

Development and Evaluation of the Quadrant Ring Test Method

Testing of ring-shaped specimens often is required for determining the hoop-direction mechanical properties of cylindrical composite structures. A quadrant ring test method was developed in an effort to produce a relatively uniform stress distribution in the ring specimen using a conventional tensile testing machine. Finite element analysis results indicated that the four-sector quadrant test is capable of producing a more uniform stress distribution in the specimen than the split-disk test. However, similar tensile strengths were obtained using the quadrant and split-disk tests, both significantly below those obtained from tensile testing of flat specimens. The lack of improvement in tensile strength produced by the quadrant test was caused by small rotations of the fixture quadrants during loading, producing greater peak stresses than for the ideal case of radially displaced sectors. These results suggest that test fixturing that produces a true outward radial displacement of the fixture sectors is required to produce accurate tensile strengths.     

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.     

DETERMINATION OF FRACTURE TOUGHNESS OF BRITTLE MATERIALS BY INDENTATION

Fracture toughness is one of the crucial mechanical properties of brittle materials such as glasses and ceramics which demonstrate catastrophic failure modes. Conventional standardized testing methods adopted for fracture toughness determination require large specimens to satisfy the plane strain condition. As for small specimens, indentation is a popular, sometimes exclusive testing mode to determine fracture toughness for it can be performed on a small flat area of the specimen surface. This review focuses on the development of indentation fracture theories and the representative testing methods. Cracking pattern dependent on indenter geometry and material property plays an important role in modeling, and is the main reason for the diversity of indentation fracture theories and testing methods. Along with the simplicity of specimen requirement is the complexity of modeling and analysis which accounts for the semi-empirical features of indentation fracture tests. Some unresolved issues shaping the gap between indentation fracture tests and standardization are also discussed.     

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.

Computations of size effects in granular bodies within micro-polar hypoplasticity during plane strain compression

The numerical investigations of size effects in granular bodies during a plane strain compression test are performed. To describe a mechanical behaviour of a cohesionless granular material during a monotonous deformation path in a plane strain compression test, a micro-polar hypoplastic constitutive model was used. It includes particle rotations, curvatures, non-symmetric stresses, couple stresses and the mean grain diameter as a characteristic length. In the paper, deterministic and statistical size effects in geometrically similar granular specimens are analysed. The deterministic calculations were carried out with a uniform distribution of the initial void ratio. To investigate a statistical size effect, in order to reduce the number of realizations without loosing the accuracy of the calculations, a Latin hypercube method was applied to generate Gaussian truncated random fields in a granular specimen. The results show that the statistical size effect is significantly stronger than the deterministic one. The shear resistance decreases and the rate of softening increases with increasing specimen size. The effect of the boundary roughness on shear localization is pronounced.