Influence of Shock Pre‐Compression Stress and Tensile Strain Rate on the Spall Behaviour of Mild Steel

Abstract: A series of plate‐impact spall experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of shock pre‐compression stress and tensile strain rates on the dynamic tensile fracture (or spall) behaviour of shocked mild steel. The shock pre‐compression stress amplitude and tensile strain rate were controlled independently to ensure that only one single‐loading parameter varied for each experiment. A push–pull type velocity interferometer system for any reflector (VISAR) was used to measure the free surface velocity profiles of samples. It is observed from experimental results that the influence of shock pre‐compression stress amplitude on the spall strength is less significant in the range attained in these experiments, whereas with increasing tensile strain rate, an evident 65% increase of spall strength is determined in the present tensile strain rate range of 10⁴ to 10⁶ s^?1. VISAR data are compared with finite‐difference calculations employing a modified damage function model with a percolation–relaxation function, and a good agreement between the calculation and the experiments was obtained. Preliminary simulation results also revealed that a critical damage exists, which physically corresponds to the critical intervoid ligament distance for triggering the onset of void coalescence, and may be regarded as a material parameter for describing the dynamic tensile fracture and independent of the loading conditions.