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.     

不同加载状态下TA2钛合金绝热剪切破坏响应特性

一般认为绝热剪切现象在宏观上表现为材料动态本构失稳,即热软化大于应变硬化.本文采用帽型受迫剪切试样研究TA2钛合金的动态力学特性和本构失稳过程.首先对剪切区加载应力状态进行理论和数值分析,通过合理设计帽型试样,剪切区变形可近似按剪切状态处理;结合二维数字图像相关法(two-dimensional digital image correlation,DIC-2D)直接测试试样剪切区应变演化,给出帽型受迫剪切实验的等效应力-应变响应曲线.进一步,利用Hopkinson压杆对TA2钛合金开展动态压缩及帽型剪切对比试验研究,比较压缩、剪切试验得到的等效应力-应变曲线,采用"冻结"试样方法分析试样中绝热剪切局域化演化过程,探讨不同加载状态下TA2钛合金的绝热剪切破坏现象及其动态力学响应特性.实验结果表明,在塑性变形初始阶段,动态压缩及剪切加载下的等效应力-应变曲线符合较好,但随塑性损伤发展及绝热剪切带形成,两者出现分离,表明损伤及绝热剪切演化过程与应力状态相关.剪切试样实验得到的本构"软化"特性能够反映绝热剪切带起始、破坏演化过程的力学响应特性,而在动态压缩实验中,即使试样中已出现双锥形的绝热剪切带及局部裂纹分布,其表观等效应力-应变曲线并不出现软化特征,动态压缩实验无法得到关于绝热剪切起始、发展以及破坏的本构软化响应特性.     

Crack tip field in a linear elastic–plastic strain-hardening material

The strip necking model for strain-hardening materials is studied in this paper, in which the stress distributed over the strip necking zone is assumed to be ultimate stress. The bi-linear stress–strain relation which can model certain features of plastic flow is adopted in this model. The stress and strain fields are calculated based on this model in this paper. The size of the strip necking region is determined by balancing the stress intensity factor due to remote loading with that due to assumed closing forces equal to the ultimate tensile strength of the material distributed over the strip necking zone. It is interesting that the strip necking region size and the crack tip opening displacement depend not only on the remote load, but also the material hardening parameters, which is different from the results of strip yield model. The results agree with experiments well, and the model has wider application.     

Necking evolution in dynamically stretched bars: New experimental and computational insights

This paper presents new results on dynamic neck evolution in steel bars of varying diameters. Dynamic tensile tests were carried out in a Kolsky apparatus using cylindrical steel specimens with various cross-section diameters ranging from 1.5 mm to 4 mm. A high speed digital camera was used to record the deformation of the specimen during the loading process. Video recording of the tests enabled accurate experimental measurements of the necking evolution, specifically its growth rate as a function of the diameter. The experiments show that increasing the specimen cross-section slows down the neck development. This behavior has been further investigated using two different kinds of numerical calculations: (1) axisymmetric finite element simulations and (2) one-dimensional finite difference computations. While the finite difference model only considers the normal stress along the longitudinal direction of the bar, the finite element model does not entail any simplification on the stress state of the specimen during the loading process. In agreement with the experiments, the finite element calculations show a decrease of the necking growth rate with the increase in the cross-section of the sample. On the contrary, the damping effect of the specimen cross-section on the necking evolution is not captured by the finite difference computations. We postulate that this result comes from the one-dimensional nature of the finite difference model. This work uncovers, by means of combined experiments and modelling, the key role played by stress multiaxiality in the growth rate of dynamic necks.     

On the application of FEM to deformation of high-density polyethylene

This paper presents a study that uses finite element method (FEM) to simulate deformation behaviour of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) when subjected to tensile loading, either without or with the presence of pre-cracks. For the former, dog-bone-shaped model of HDPE was deformed under uni-axial tensile (UT) loading beyond the initial yielding, to generate stable necking in the gauge section. The paper proposes a simple correction factor to determine the equivalent von Mises stress that is needed for the input to the FEM model, in order to generate the same loading level as that observed experimentally for neck propagation. The paper points out that such consistency in the loading level could not be generated in the past mainly because of a misconception that axial stress in the neck was regarded as the equivalent of the von Mises stress. The study also explored the consideration of crack growth in double-edge-notched tensile (DENT) specimen, and showed that the conventional von Mises yield function, with the assumption of isotropic work hardening, cannot be directly applied to simulate the deformation behaviour of DENT specimen. Instead, empirical parameters were employed to reflect the polymer orientation during the necking process. The paper shows that FEM models for both UT and DENT tests can reproduce the experimental load–displacement curves quite accurately, and concludes that with a proper yield function to reflect the deformation involved in the mechanical tests, the deformation behaviour observed experimentally can be accurately mimicked using the FEM simulation.     

Numerically predicting ductile material behavior from tensile specimen response

Direct measurement of uniaxial true stress-strain behavior for ductile engineering materials is not possible when necking occurs in standard tensile test specimens. A procedure is presented which converts standard specimen test data to a true stress-strain relation postulated as valid for higher strains. A series of finite element test specimen simulations demonstrates the correction algorithm rationale for HY-100 steel. Predicted specimen behavior was in close agreement with reported experimental data.The combined influence of specimen boundary conditions and material stress-strain behavior is discussed. Results suggest that specimen behavior may be modeled correctly without the use of auxiliary conditions, such as geometric imperfections or material instability, to trigger specimen necking.     

扭转塑性变形对6063铝合金拉伸力学性能的影响机理研究

扭转是一种常用的冷作硬化方法。本文通过实心圆轴扭转实验和预扭试件的单向拉伸实验,研究了扭转塑性变形程度对6063铝合金拉伸力学性能的影响。通过理论研究和硬度分析探究了造成这一影响的内在机理。结果表明,试件扭转后其内部形成的以屈服强度为特征参数的梯度结构,是造成预扭试件力学性能得到改善的根本原因。并且,扭转不同的角度,材料内部产生的梯度结构也是不同的。而不同的梯度结构对试件力学性能的影响则表现为后继拉伸屈服强度随预扭角度的增大而增大。为了预测预扭试件的后继拉伸力学行为,验证前述结论的正确性,建立了由内到外屈服强度逐渐变化的有限元模型。此模型代表了预扭转变形试件,对其施加位移载荷,模拟后继单向拉伸加载过程。模拟所得材料力学性能随扭转角的变化趋势与实验结果基本吻合,从而验证了扭转冷作硬化后,圆轴试件内部产生了以屈服强度为特征参数的梯度结构这一结论。同时,也提供了一种有效的预测材料扭转后拉伸力学性能的数值模拟方法。     

A crystal plasticity model that incorporates stresses and strains due to slip gradients

This work is concerned with incorporating the kinematic and stress effects of excess dislocations in a constitutive model for the elastoplastic behavior of crystalline materials. The foundation of the model is a three term multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient in which the two classical terms of plastic and elastic deformation are included along with an additional term for long range strain due to the collective effects of excess dislocations. The long range strain is obtained from an assumed density of Volterra edge dislocations and is directly related to gradients in slip. A new material parameter emerges which is the size the region about a continuum point that contributes to long range strains.Using Hookean elasticity, the stress at a point is linearly related to the sum of the elastic plus the long range strain fields. However, the driving force for slip is postulated to be due only to the elastic stress so that the long range stress is a back stress in the constitutive relationship for plastic deformation. A consistent balance of the total deformation rate with the three proposed mechanisms of deformation leads to a set of differential equations that can be solved for the elastic stress, rotation and pressure which then implicitly defines the material state and equilibrium stress. Results from the simulation of a tapered tensile specimen demonstrate that the constitutive model exhibits isotropic and kinematic type hardening effects as well as changes in the pattern of plastic deformation and necking when compared to a material without slip gradient effects.     

Numerical investigation of the influence of shear band localization on the resonant behavior in the VHCF regime

The monitored resonant behavior of fatigue specimens of metastable austenitic stainless steel (AISI304) is correlated with its damage accumulation in the very high cycle fatigue (VHCF) regime. The resonant behavior is studied experimentally and shows a distinct transient characteristic. Microscopic examinations indicate that during VHCF a localized plastic deformation in shear bands arises on the specimen surface. Hence, this work focuses on the effect of damage accumulation in shear bands on the resonant behavior of AISI304 in the VHCF regime. A microstructural simulation model is proposed that takes into account specific mechanisms in shear bands proven by experimental results. The simulation model is solved numerically using the two-dimensional boundary element method and the resonant behavior is characterized by evaluating the force-displacement hysteresis loop. Simulation of shear bands agrees well with microscopic examinations and plastic deformation in shear bands influences the transient characteristic of the resonant behavior.     

Length scale effects on the shear localization process in metallic glasses: A theoretical and computational study

Some recent experiments on sub-micron and nano-sized metallic glass (amorphous alloy) specimens have shown that the shear localization process becomes more stable and less catastrophic when compared to the response exhibited by large sample sizes. This leads to the discovery that the shear localization process and fracture can be delayed by decreasing sample volume. In this work we develop a non-local and finite-deformation-based constitutive model using thermodynamic principles and the theory of micro-force balance to study the causes for the aforementioned observations. The constitutive model has also been implemented into a commercially available finite-element program by writing a user-material subroutine. With the aid of finite-element simulations, our constitutive model predicts that metallic glass samples have the intrinsic ability to exhibit: (a) the delaying of (catastrophic) shear localization with decreasing sample size, and (b) homogeneous deformation behavior for sample volumes smaller than the shear band nucleus.The cause for the observations listed above is the increasing influence of a non-local interaction stress with decreasing sample volume. This interaction stress has energetic origins and it affects plastic deformation due to the strong coupling between plastic shearing and free-volume generation. Akin to strain-gradient plasticity theory, the role of the interaction stress is to strengthen the material at locations where the defect density/free volume is higher compared to the rest of metallic glass sample.     

The Application of Shear Compression Specimen to Study Shear Deformation Behavior of AZ31 Mg Alloy at High Temperatures and Quasi-Static Regime

In the present work, shear-compression specimen was successfully employed to study the shear flow behavior of AZ31 magnesium alloy at high temperatures and in quasi-static regime. The loading process of shear-compression testing was simulated using ABAQUS software. This was carried out in the temperature range of 250–450°C and displacement rates of 1.5, 15 and 150 mm/min. In addition, to validate the numerical simulation results, the shear compression specimens were also compressed experimentally at the same conditions of numerical ones. Equivalent stress–strain curves obtained from numerical simulation results along with microstructural observations were utilized to investigate the effect of loading conditions on deformation behavior of the experimental alloy. The results indicated a homogenous distribution of shear strains within the gage and the high applicability of shear-compression specimen to study shear flow behavior of materials at hot deformation conditions.     

Effects of deformed volume, volume fraction and particle size on the deformation behaviour of W/Cu composites

Tungsten/copper (W/Cu) particle reinforced composites were used to investigate the scaling effects on the deformation and fracture behaviour. The effects of the volume fraction and the particle size of the reinforcement (tungsten particles) were studied. W/Cu-80/20, 70/30 and 60/40 wt.% each with tungsten particle size of 10 μm and 30 μm were tested under compression and shear loading. Cylindrical compression specimens with different volumes (D_S = H) were investigated with strain rates between 0.001 s⁻¹ and about 5750 s⁻¹ at temperatures from 20 °C to 800 °C. Axis-symmetric hat-shaped shear specimens with different shear zone widths were examined at different strain rates as well. A clear dependence of the flow stress on the deformed volume and the particle size was found under compression and shear loading. Metallographic investigation was carried out to show a relation between the deformation of the tungsten particles and the global deformation of the specimens. The size of the deformed zone under either compression or shear loading has shown a clear size effect on the fracture of the hat-shaped specimens.The quasi-static flow curves were described with the material law from Swift. The parameters of the material law were presented as a function of the temperature and the specimen size. The mechanical behaviour of the composite materials were numerically computed for an idealized axis-symmetric hat-shaped specimen to verify the determined material law.     

Fatigue crack opening stress based on the strip-yield model

The modified strip-yield model based on the Dugdale model and two-dimensional approximate weight function method were utilized to evaluate the effect of in-plane constraint, transverse stress, on the fatigue crack closure. The plastic zone sizes and the crack opening stresses considering transverse stress were calculated for four specimens: single edge-notched tension (SENT) specimen, single edge-notched bend (SENB) specimen, center-cracked tension (CCT) specimen, double edge-notched tension (DENT) specimen under uniaxial loading. And the crack opening behavior of the center-cracked specimen under biaxial loading was also evaluated. Normalized crack opening stresses σ_op/σ_max for four specimens were successfully described by the normalized plastic zone parameter Δω^′_rev/ω^′ considering transverse stress, where Δω^′_rev and ω^′ are the size of the reversed plastic zone at the moment of first crack tip closure and the size of the forward plastic zone for maximum stress, respectively. The normalized plastic zone parameter with transverse stress also was satisfactorily correlated with the behavior of crack closure for CCT specimen under biaxial loading.     

45钢柱壳爆炸膨胀断裂的SPH模拟分析

金属柱壳爆炸膨胀断裂存在拉伸、剪切及拉剪混合等多种断裂模式,目前其物理机制及影响因素还不清晰。本文中采用光滑粒子流体动力学方法（smoothed particle hydrodynamics, SPH）对45钢柱壳在JOB-9003及RHT-901不同装药条件下的外爆实验进行了数值模拟,探讨柱壳在不同装药条件下发生的剪切断裂、拉剪混合断裂模式及其演化过程,模拟结果与实验结果一致。SPH数值模拟结果表明:在爆炸加载阶段,随着冲击波在柱壳内、外壁间来回反射形成二次塑性区,沿柱壳壁厚等效塑性应变演化呈凸形分布,壁厚中部区域等效塑性应变较内、外壁大;在较高爆炸压力（JOB-9003）作用下,柱壳断裂发生在爆轰波加载阶段,损伤裂纹从塑性应变积累较大的壁厚中部开始沿剪切方向向内、外壁扩展,形成剪切型断裂模式;而在RHT-901空心炸药加载下,虽然裂纹仍从壁厚中部开始沿剪切方向扩展,但随后柱壳进入自由膨胀阶段,未断区域处于拉伸应力状态,柱壳局部发生结构失稳,形成类似“颈缩”现象,裂纹从剪切方向转向沿颈缩区向外扩展,呈现拉剪混合断裂模式。拉伸裂纹占截面的比例与柱壳结构失稳时刻相关。可见,柱壳断裂演化是一个爆炸冲击波与柱壳结构相互作用的过程,不能简单将其作为一系列膨胀拉伸环处理。     

On neck propagation in amorphous glassy polymers under plane strain tension

Unlike metals, necking in polymers under tension does not lead to further localization of deformation, but to propagation of the neck along the specimen. Finite element analysis is used to numerically study necking and neck propagation in amorphous glassy polymers under plane strain tension during large strain plastic flow. The constitutive model used in the analyses features strain-rate, pressure, and temperature dependent yield, softening immediately after yield and subsequent orientational hardening with further plastic deformation. The latter is associated with distortion of the underlying molecular network structure of the material, and is modelled here by adopting a recently proposed network theory developed for rubber elasticity. Previous studies of necking instabilities have almost invariably employed idealized prismatic specimens; here, we explicitly account for the unavoidable grip sections of test specimens. The effects of initial imperfections, strain softening, orientation hardening, strain-rate as well as of specimen geometry and boundary conditions are discussed. The physical mechanisms for necking and neck propagation, in terms of our constitutive model, are discussed on the basis of a detailed parameter study.     

Failure loads of spot weld specimens under impact opening and shear loading conditions

Failure loads of spot weld specimens are investigated under impact combined loading conditions. A set of test fixtures was designed and used to obtain failure loads of mild steel spot weld specimens under combined opening and shear loading conditions. Three different impact speeds were applied to examine the effects of separation speed on failure loads. Micrographs of the cross-sections of failed spot welds were obtained to understand the failure processes in mild steel specimens under different impact combined loads. The experimental results indicate that the failure mechanisms of spot welds are very similar for mild steel specimens at various impact speeds. These micrographs show that the sheet thickness can affect the failure mechanisms. For 1.0 mm specimens, the failure occurs near the base metal in a necking/shear failure mode. For 1.5 mm specimens, the failure occurs near the heat-affected zone in a shear failure mode. Based on the experimental results, the effects of the inertia force, the separation speed, and the loading angle on the failure loads of spot welds are investigated. Failure criteria are proposed to characterize the failure loads of spot welds under impact combined opening and shear loads for engineering applications. The failure load can be expressed as a function of the tensile strength of the base metal, the nugget size, the sheet thickness, the maximum separation speed, the loading angle, and empirical coefficients for a given welding schedule.     

High Strain Rate Torsion Properties of Ultrafine-Grained Aluminum

Mechanical properties of most metallic materials can be improved by reducing their grain size. One of the methods used to reduce the grain size even to the nanometer level is the severe plastic deformation processing. Equal Channel Angular Pressing (ECAP) is one of the most promising severe plastic deformation processes for the nanocrystallization of ductile metals. Nanocrystalline and ultrafine grained metals usually have significantly higher strength properties but lower tensile ductility compared to the coarse grained metals. In this work, the torsion properties of ECAP processed ultrafine grained pure 1070 aluminum were studied in a wide range of strain rates using both servohydraulic materials testing machines and Hopkinson Split Bar techniques. The material exhibits extremely high ductility in torsion and the specimens did not fail even after 300% of strain. Pronounced yield point behavior was observed at strain rates 500 s⁻¹ and higher, whereas at lower strain rates the yielding was continuous. The material showed slight strain softening at the strain rate of 10⁻⁴ s⁻¹, almost ideally plastic behavior at strain rates between 10⁻³ s⁻¹ and 500 s⁻¹, and slight but increasing strain hardening at strain rates higher than that. The tests were monitored using digital cameras, and the strain distributions on the surface of the specimens were calculated using digital image correlation. The strain in the specimen localized very rapidly after yielding at all strain rates, and the localization lead to the development of a shear band. At high strain rates the shear band developed faster than at low strain rates.     

Failure loads of spot welds under combined opening and shear static loading conditions

Failure loads of spot welds are investigated under combined opening and shear static loading conditions. Square-cup specimens were used to obtain the failure loads of mild steel spot welds under a range of combined opening and shear loads. Optical micrographs of the cross-sections of spot welds before and after failure were examined to understand the failure processes under different combinations of loads. The experimental results indicate that under nearly pure opening loads, shear failure occurs in the heat affected zone along the nugget circumferential boundary. Under combined opening and shear loading conditions, necking/shear failure starts near the nugget in the stretching side of the base metal sheet. According to the experimental observations, a simple lower bound limit load analysis is conducted. The results of the lower bound limit load analysis quantitatively agree with those of the experiments. A simple closed-form equation is proposed to characterize the failure loads of spot welds under combined opening and shear static loading conditions. The failure load is expressed as a function of the tensile strength of the base metal, the nugget size, the sheet thickness, the loading angle for characterization of combined loads, and an empirical coefficient for the given welding schedule.     

金属材料平面应变拉伸变形局部化有限元分析

本文对于涉及韧性金属大变形中颈缩与剪切带断裂一类高度非线性变形局部化问题进行了弹塑性有限元数值模拟。采用改进的Ｊ２形变理论微分形式公式与交叉三角形四边形单元有限元网格，详细研究了应变硬化指数及初始表面不均匀特性的平面应变拉伸颈缩和剪切带形成的综合影响，给出此类问题的断裂机制图。     

帽型试样动态绝热剪切破坏演化分析

利用分离式霍普金森压杆加载Ta2钛合金扁平闭合帽形受迫剪切试样,结合数字图像相关法和“冻结”试样的微观金相观察,研究剪切区剪切应变的演化、绝热剪切带形成条件等。结果显示：受迫剪切试样在动态加载过程,剪切区剪切应变不断集中,形成绝热剪切带,裂纹沿绝热剪切带发展;随加载率提高,绝热剪切起始临界应变减小;进一步利用数字图像相关法DIC场应变分析及金相微观观测对比,利用卸载回复特性对绝热剪切带起始临界条件进行了讨论,计算的绝热剪切带起始时温升仅为86℃。材料软化可能不是绝热剪切带起始的控制条件,相反是由于绝热剪切带形成造成的应变高度集中发展导致温度急剧升高。