High Strain Rate Compressive Tests on Wood

Abstract: The penetrating split Hopkinson pressure bar was used to study the response of dry maple wood under high strain rate impact load. Using longer bar and shorter specimens utilised the assumption of one‐dimensional stress waves travelling along the bars and specimen because the experiment fulfilled the ratio of diameter to length of bars condition in Kolsky bar experiments. The stress–strain relationships and behaviour of the fibre structure materials’ failure were investigated during the compressive dynamic tests at strain rates between 950¹ and 2000 s^?1. The mechanics of dynamic failure was studied and it was confirmed that deformation of specimen is a linear function of energy absorption by specimens.     

Stress–strain behavior of composites under high strain rate compression along thickness direction: Effect of loading condition

Investigations are carried out on the behavior of typical plain weave E-glass/epoxy; plain weave carbon/epoxy; satin weave carbon/epoxy; and satin weave carbon – plain weave E-glass and epoxy hybrid composites under high strain rate compressive loading along thickness direction. Compressive split Hopkinson pressure bar apparatus was used for the studies. Two loading cases, namely, specimen not failed and specimen failed during loading are investigated. The special characteristics of specimen not failed case are presented. For this case, the specimens are under compressive strain initially and are under tensile strain during the later part of loading. The induced tensile strain is higher than the induced compressive strain. This could lead to failure of specimen/structure under tensile strain even though the applied load is compressive.     

Effect of repeated impacts on the response of plain-woven hybrid composites

The repeated low-velocity impact responses of hybrid plain-woven composite panels were studied by drop-weight experiments. Non-hybrid S2-glass-fiber/toughened epoxy and IM7 graphite fiber/toughened epoxy as well as hybrid S2-glass–IM7 graphite fiber/toughened epoxy composite panels were impacted repeatedly using a pressure-assisted Instron-Dynatup 8520 instrumented drop-weight impact tester. During the low-velocity impact tests, the time histories of impact forces, absorbed impact energies and panel central deflections were recorded. The relations between the impact force and central deflection, whose slope represented the dynamic contact stiffness, were then constructed. The damaged specimens were inspected visually and using the ultrasonic C-Scan method. The effects of hybridization and lay-up sequence on the repeated drop-weight impact responses of woven composites were investigated. It was observed that damage accumulations could be slowed down using hybridization. It was also witnessed that the lay-up configuration of a hybrid composite had a significant influence on damage accumulation rate. The hybrid specimens with glass–epoxy skins survived the double number of successive impacts compared to hybrid specimens with graphite–epoxy skins.     

Strain-rate-dependent failure criteria for composites

The objective of this study was to characterize the quasi-static and dynamic behavior of composite materials and develop/expand failure theories to describe static and dynamic failure under multi-axial states of stress. A unidirectional carbon/epoxy material was investigated. Multi-axial experiments were conducted at three strain rates, quasi-static, intermediate and high, 10⁻⁴, 1 and 180-400 s⁻¹, respectively, using off-axis specimens to produce stress states combining transverse normal and in-plane shear stresses. A Hopkinson bar apparatus and off-axis specimens loaded in this system were used for multi-axial characterization of the material at high strain rates. Stress-strain curves were obtained at the three strain rates mentioned. The measured strengths were evaluated based on classical failure criteria, (maximum stress, maximum strain, Tsai-Hill, Tsai-Wu, and failure mode based and partially interactive criteria (Hashin-Rotem, Sun, and Daniel). The latter (NU theory) is primarily applicable to interfiber/interlaminar failure for stress states including transverse normal and in-plane shear stresses. The NU theory was expressed in terms of three subcriteria and presented as a single normalized (master) failure envelope including strain rate effects. The NU theory was shown to be in excellent agreement with experimental results.     

Dynamic material properties of wood subjected to low-velocity impact

This article studied the effects of low-velocity impact on the failure stresses and stiffness using a pendulum test. The specimens were of variable depth (20, 30, and 40 mm), a width of 50 mm, length of 650 mm, and span-length of 480 mm. The smallest specimen depth was similar to specimen sizes tested in the literature used to create the duration of load curve, while the largest specimen depth are considered structural size specimens. The impact was predicted using a numerical approach with Euler–Bernoulli beam, as well as Timoshenko beam theory, with a plastic contact law. The models were validated for impact from a low release-angle (where the beam remained elastic), but could use improvement for the force prediction at a high incidence velocity. The measured force signals were used as forcing functions to obtain the dynamic failure stresses for all of the evaluated specimens, and the Timoshenko–Goens–Hearmon Method to derive the dynamic E. The resulting strain rates ranged from 9.11?×?10^?5 s^?1 for the quasi-static specimens up to 25 s^?1 for the greatest incidence velocity. The results from this study suggest different duration of load factors than the Madison Curve, influencing the design of structures subjected to dynamic loading.     

三维正交机织玄武岩/环氧树脂复合材料高温老化后低速冲击性质

研究了三维正交机织玄武岩/环氧树脂复合材料在180℃高温环境下老化不同时间后的低速冲击力学性能,测试得到了不同老化时间的试样在低速冲击过程中的载荷-位移曲线。研究发现:随着老化时间增加,三维正交机织玄武岩/环氧树脂复合材料能承受的最大载荷下降,位移逐渐增加,载荷-位移曲线斜率逐渐下降;随着冲击能量增加,老化条件相同的三维正交机织玄武岩/环氧树脂复合材料试样最大承受载荷增大,位移和曲线斜率增加。对高温老化后三维正交机织玄武岩/环氧树脂复合材料试样进行SEM观察,发现纤维与树脂基体脱粘有裂纹产生,且裂纹数目和面积随着老化时间延长而增加。      

Mechanical and sliding wear properties of multi-layered laminates from glass fabric/graphite/epoxy composites

Multi-layered laminates of bi-directionally woven E-glass fabric/epoxy with different loading of graphite particles were made by hand layup followed by compression molding. Tensile and flexural behaviors, impact strength, hardness and density of these laminates were determined. Wear behaviors of these composites were investigated by a pin-on-disc wear test apparatus. Specific wear rates of these composites strongly depend on their filler content and applied normal loads. The hybrid composite containing 3 wt% of graphite exhibits the optimum mechanical and wear performances. A further increase in the graphite content increases the specific wear rate and deteriorates the mechanical behavior. The lowest (σ e)⁻¹ factor (the reciprocal of the product of tensile strength and elongation at break) signifies the lowest specific wear rate. The results of the morphology study of the wear test specimens support the results of the wear test.     

An assessment of mechanical behavior and fractography study of glass/epoxy composites at different temperatures and loading speeds

Effect of loading rate on fracture and mechanical behavior of autoclave cured glass fiber/epoxy prepreg composite has been studied at various loading (striking) rates (0.01-10³ mm/min). The maximum load carrying capacity and strain at yield continuously increases with increasing loading speed. The interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) value is high at low loading speed and becomes low at high loading speed with the transition of loading rate at approximately 300 mm/min. The formation of steps, welt interfacial failure and cleavage formation on matrix resin i.e. localized plastic deformation processes were dominating mechanisms for specimens tested at low loading rates, while brittle fracture of fiber, fiber pull-out and impregnation were dominating mechanisms for specimens tested at loading rates of 800 mm/min or higher.     

Dynamic splitting tensile properties of concrete and cement mortar

To investigate the dynamic tensile behaviours of concrete and cement mortar, a 50‐mm split Hopkinson pressure bar was applied on Brazilian disc specimens for dynamic tensile experiments, in which strain rate varied from 10^?5 to 20 s^?1. The high‐speed camera testing technique was used to capture the dynamic fractured process of the specimens at relative high strain rate. The experimental results revealed that the dynamic tensile strength of concrete specimens has a stronger strain rate effect than that of cement mortar specimens. Then three typical failure patterns of the specimens were confirmed in dynamic experiments. In addition, one‐parameter semi‐empirical relation between dynamic tensile strength and strain rate was established. Finally, the limitation of dynamic splitting experiments on Brazilian disc specimens was discussed in detail at high strain rate, in which the crack initiates from the contact point between the incident bar and specimens rather than the centre of the specimens.     

Drop-weight impact of plain-woven hybrid glass–graphite/toughened epoxy composites

The progressive damage behaviors of hybrid woven composite panels (101.6 mm × 101.6 mm) impacted by drop-weights at four different velocities were studied by a combined experimental and 3-D dynamic nonlinear finite element approach. The specimens tested were made of plain-weave hybrid S2 glass-IM7 graphite fibers/toughened epoxy (cured at 177 °C). The composite panels were damaged using a pressure-assisted Instron-Dynatup 8520 instrumented drop-weight impact tester. During these low-velocity simpact tests, the time-histories of impact-induced dynamic strains and impact forces were recorded. The damaged specimens were inspected visually and using ultrasonic C-Scan methods. The commercially available 3-D dynamic nonlinear finite element (FE) software, LS-DYNA, incorporated with a proposed user-defined damage-induced nonlinear orthotropic model, was then used to simulate the experimental results of drop-weight tests. Good agreement between experimental and FE results has been achieved when comparing dynamic force, strain histories and damage patterns from experimental measurements and FE simulations.     

High-speed testing and material modeling of unfilled styrene butadiene vulcanizates at impact rates

High-speed tensile tests were performed on unfilled SBR strip and sheet specimens at room temperature. Uniaxial dynamic stress-extension ratio curves indicated three distinct regions of rate-dependent behavior when strain rates were below 180 s^–1, between 180–280 s^–1and above 280 s^–1. With increasing strain rate, the toughness increased in the first region, remained roughly constant in the second region, and decreased in the third region. Time-temperature shift on SBR near the glass transition temperature used to obtain high strain rate tensile strength at room temperature did not give the same results as those found in the impact tensile test. The dynamic toughness was used to predict failure of rubber sheets under impact loads using ABAQUS Explicit. Predicted values of the sheet extension at the onset of failure were within 10% of experimental values.     

Nonlinear Analysis of Woven Fabric-Reinforced Graphite/PMR-15 Composites under Shear-Dominated Biaxial Loads

An elastic-plastic, time-independent, macroscopic, homogenous model of an 8HS woven graphite/PMR-15 composite material has been developed that predicts the nonlinear response of the material subjected to shear-dominated biaxial loads. The model has been used to determine the response of woven composite off-axis and Iosipescu test specimens in nonlinear finite element analyses using a multilinear averaging technique. The numerically calculated response of the specimen was then compared to experimentally obtained data. It has been shown that the numerically calculated stress - strain diagrams of the off-axis specimens are very close to the experimentally obtained curves. It has also been shown that the numerically determined shear stress - strain and load-displacement curves of the woven Iosipescu specimens are close to the experimentally obtained curves up to the point of significant interlaminar damage initiation and propagation. The results obtained in this study clearly demonstrate that the nonlinear material behavior of the graphite/polyimide woven composites subjected to shear-dominated biaxial loading conditions cannot be ignored and should be considered in any stress analysis. The linear-elastic approach grossly overestimates the loads and stresses at failure of these materials in the off-axis and Iosipescu tests. It can be assumed that the same discrepancies will arise in the numerical analysis of the woven composites tested under other biaxial shear-dominated loading conditions using other biaxial test methods.     

Impact resistance and energy absorption mechanisms in hybrid composites

The response of hybrid composites to low-velocity impact loading has been investigated. The energy absorbing mechanisms of laminates containing various fibers were studied primarily by means of the instrumented falling dart impact testing technique. Static indentation tests and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were also employed to assist in the identification of failure mechanisms. The composites containing polyethylene (PE) fibers, which were of high strength and high ductility, were found to be effective in both dissipating impact energy and resisting through penetration. Polyester (PET) fiber reinforced epoxy also exhibited superior impact characteristics even though the PET fabric layers without epoxy did not have good modulus or ductility. Good energy absorbing capability was also observed in epoxy reinforced with woven fabrics made of high-performance Nylon fibers. Nylon, PE and PET fibers were found to enhance the impact resistance of graphite fiber composites. Upon impact loading, the composites containing either PE or PET fibers in general exhibited a great degree of flexural plastic deformation and some level of delamination, thereby dissipating a significant amount of strain energy. Hybrids containing Nylon fabric showed analogous behavior, but to a lesser degree. The stacking sequence in hybrid laminates was found to play a critical role in controlling plastic deformation and delamination. This implies that the stacking sequence is a major factor governing the overall energy sorbing capability of the hybrid structure. The penetration resistance of hybrid composites appeared to be dictated by the toughness (strength plus ductility) of their constituent fibers. The fiber toughness must be measured under high strain rate conditions.     

Influence of stress triaxiality and strain rate on the failure behavior of a dual-phase DP780 steel

To better understand the in-service mechanical behavior of advanced high-strength steels, the influence of stress triaxiality and strain rate on the failure behavior of a dual-phase (DP) 780 steel sheet was investigated. Three flat, notched mini-tensile geometries with varying notch severities and initial stress triaxialities of 0.36, 0.45, and 0.74 were considered in the experiments. Miniature specimens were adopted to facilitate high strain rate testing in addition to quasi-static experiments. Tensile tests were conducted at strain rates of 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1, 10, and 100 s⁻¹ for all three notched geometries and compared to mini-tensile uniaxial samples. Additional tests at a strain rate of 1500 s⁻¹ were performed using a tensile split Hopkinson bar apparatus. The results showed that the stress–strain response of the DP780 steel exhibited mainly positive strain rate sensitivity for all geometries, with mild negative strain rate sensitivity up to 0.1 s⁻¹ for the uniaxial specimens. The strain at failure was observed to decrease with strain rate at low strain rates of 0.001–0.1 s⁻¹; however, it increased by 26% for an increase in strain rate from 0.1 to 1500 s⁻¹ for the uniaxial condition. Initial triaxiality was found to have a significant negative impact on true failure strain with a decrease of 32% at the highest triaxiality compared to the uniaxial condition at a strain rate of 0.001 s⁻¹. High resolution scanning electron microscopy images of the failure surfaces revealed a dimpled surface while optical micrographs revealed shearing through the thickness indicating failure occurred via ductile-shear. Finite element simulations of the tests were used to predict the effective plastic strain versus triaxiality history within the deforming specimens. These predictions were combined with the measured conditions at the onset of failure in order to construct limit strain versus triaxiality failure criteria.     

Energy absorption and load carrying capability of woven natural silk epoxy–triggered composite tubes

This study investigated the energy absorption response and load carrying capability of woven natural silk/epoxy–triggered composite rectangular tubes subjected to an axial quasi-static crushing test. The rectangular composite tubes were prepared by hand lay-up technique. The tubes consisted of 12, 24, and 30 layers of natural woven silk/epoxy laminate and were 50, 80, and 120 mm long. The crashworthiness of the tubes was evaluated by measuring the specific energy absorption in quasi-static axial compression. Specific energy absorption was obtained from the load–displacement curve during testing. The failure mode of the tubes was analyzed from high resolution photographs obtained. Overall, the tube with 50 mm length and 30 layers showed the best crashworthiness among the tubes. The failure morphology showed that the specimens failed in two distinct modes: local and mid-length buckling. The triggered composite tubes exhibited progressive failure.     

Comparative research on the crashworthiness characteristics of woven natural silk/epoxy composite tubes

This study investigated the energy absorption response of triggered and non-triggered woven natural silk/epoxy composite rectangular tubes subjected to an axial quasi-static crushing test. The rectangular composite tubes were prepared by the hand lay-up technique using 12 layers of silk fabric with a thickness of 1.7 mm and tube lengths of 50, 80, and 120 mm. The parameters measured were peak load, energy absorption, and specific energy absorption (SEA). In both triggered and non-triggered tubes, the SEA values decreased with increasing length of the composite specimen. On the contrary, total energy absorption increased with increasing length of the composite specimen. The peak load in triggered specimens is nearly half of that in non-triggered specimens. Deformation morphology shows that the specimens failed in two distinct modes: local buckling and mid-length buckling. The non-triggered composite tubes exhibited catastrophic failure, whereas the triggered composite tubes only exhibited progressive failure.     

Dynamic delamination fracture toughness of a graphite/epoxy laminate under impact

Dynamic delamination fracture toughness in a [90/0]_5s T300/934 graphite/epoxy laminate was investigated using impact loading. Delamination cracks of three different sizes were embedded at the mid-plane of the composite specimen. The threshold impact velocity that causes propagation of the delamination crack was used in the dynamic analysis with the finite element method. From the finite element solution, the time-history of the strain energy release rate was calculated. The critical strain energy release rate was taken to equal the maximum value of the response history.     

Quasistatic and dynamic crushability of polymeric foams in rigid confinement

An approach was developed for investigating the crushability behavior of epoxy-based, low-density structural polymeric foam (initial bulk density 0.81 g/cm³ was used for test illustration) under quasistatic and high strain rate conditions in rigid confinement. Quasistatic crushability tests were conducted in a steel confinement cell using an MTS material testing system and the high strain rate (dynamic) crushability behavior was investigated by placing a foam specimen in a steel confinement tube and then loading the specimen using two different split Hopkinson pressure bar systems, namely, a magnesium bar and steel bar. The dynamic deformation characteristics were obtained using a multi-step incremental loading procedure. It was found that these foams exhibited large uniform inelastic deformation during the confined loading. It is verified that multi-step incremental loading can be used to construct the complete stress–strain response curve for the specimens under both quasistatic and dynamic loading conditions. A phenomenological constitutive model was then applied to parametrically describe the crushability response and to determine the rate sensitivity of the foams. The rate sensitivity of yield stress was found to be around three under rigid confinement.     

混凝土圆柱体试件在低速冲击下动力效应的研究

为研究混凝土圆柱体试件在冲击荷载作用下的动力效应,利用落锤冲击试验机,对混凝土圆柱体试件在应变率100~101/s范围内进行轴向冲击试验,并采用混凝土连续面盖帽模型（CSCM）对试验过程进行数值模拟。试验中测量不同冲击速度及冲击边界下的锤头冲击力、试件轴向应变时程曲线,获取了试件破坏形态及破坏过程的高速影像,比较分析了不同冲击速度及边界条件下,试件应力、应变峰值,应变率及动力增强系数（DIF）的变化规律。结果表明：随冲击速度的增加,试件的应力、应变峰值,应变率及动力增强系数都呈增加的趋势,冲击力作用时间则减小。混凝土平均强度与冲击速度呈抛物线关系,应变率则与冲击速度呈线性关系。模拟结果表明,CSCM混凝土本构模型在低速冲击范围内,有很好的计算精度,模拟破坏形态与试验结果吻合良好。     

Failure behaviour of carbon fibre/epoxy composites in pin-ended buckling and bending tests

T300 carbon fibre/epoxy composite specimens with unidirectional and cross-ply orientation and G802 woven fabric/epoxy specimens were tested in a pin-ended rig at various specimen geometries. The rig was designed so that a combination of bending and compression was possible. Failure initiation and failure sequences at the midspan were monitored and established through photography. In some specimen geometries, high compressive strains of the order of 1.85% for pin-ended tests, accompanied by a higher loadbearing capacity than in conventional bend tests, were observed. Fracture characterization and failure analysis were carried out with the aid of a scanning electron microscope.