A high-rate, impact-driven biaxial fragmentation experiment for ductile materials

The experimental investigation of high strain rate fragmentation has generally been limited to one of two cases: analytically powerful but simple one-dimensional loading configurations, or complicated multiaxial experiments more closely approximating use applications. The former, exemplified by Mott-style ring fragmentation, promotes simple and confident analysis-forming the backbone of the field and revealing the basic nature of dynamic fragmentation in solids-but ignores some critical mechanisms in order to achieve that simplicity. The latter, while informing applications of interest such as ballistic impact, may provide limited insight and is often difficult to access diagnostically. This work presents an attempt to help bridge the gap between 1D ring expansion and 3D fragmentation experiments in the form of impact driven, high-strain-rate biaxial tensile fragmentation experiments. The impact target system consists of a thin specimen plate and a thick polymer impact buffer. The latter serves as a fluid-like medium allowing momentum transfer between an impacting projectile and a rapidly growing near-hemispherical bulge in the specimen plate. The deformation of the specimen and fragmentation pattern are observed using ultra-high-speed optical imaging as well as flash x-ray imaging, and individual fragments are recovered and characterized post-mortem. Using this method, the fragmentation behavior of 6061-T6 Aluminum is investigated at tensile strain rates exceeding 105 5 s -1 and at higher stress triaxiality than that commonly achieved.