Karl Olney

Role of material properties and mesostructure on dynamic deformation and shear instability in Al-W granular composites

Dynamic experiments with Al-W granular/porous composites revealed qualitatively different behavior with respect to shear localization depending on bonding between Al particles. Two-dimensional numerical modeling was used to explore the mesomechanics of the large strain dynamic deformation in Al-W granular/porous composites and explain the experimentally observed differences in shear localization between composites with various mesostructures. Specifically, the bonding between the Al particles, the porosity, the roles of the relative particle sizes of Al and W, the arrangements of the W particles, and the material properties of Al were investigated using numerical calculations. It was demonstrated in simulations that the bonding between the soft Al particles facilitated shear localization as seen in the experiments. Numerical calculations and experiments revealed that the mechanism of the shear localization in granular composites is mainly due to the local high strain flow of soft Al around the rigid W par...

The mechanism of instability and localized reaction in the explosively driven collapse of thick walled Ni-Al laminate cylinders

Thick-walled cylinders constructed from alternating concentric layers of Ni and Al foils were explosively collapsed. The prevalent mode of the high strain, high strain rate plastic deformation was the cooperative buckling of the foils originating in the interior layers. This phenomenon was reproduced in numerical simulations. Its mechanism is qualitatively different than that of shear localization seen in all previously investigated homogeneous solid and granular materials and from the independent buckling of single thin-walled cylinders. Localized chemical reactions were observed in the apex areas of the Ni foils, consistent with the localization of temperature due to high strain plastic deformation.

The mechanisms of plastic strain accommodation during the high strain rate collapse of corrugated Ni–Al laminate cylinders

The Thick-Walled Cylinder method was used on corrugated Ni–Al reactive laminates to examine how their mesostructures accommodate large strain, high strain rate plastic deformation and to examine the potential for intermetallic reaction initiation due to mechanical stimuli. Three main mesoscale mechanisms of large plastic strain accommodation were observed in addition to the bulk distributed uniform plastic flow: (a) the extrusion of wedge-shaped regions into the interior of the cylinder along planes of easy slip provided by angled layers, (b) the development of trans-layer shear bands in the layers with orientation close to radial and (c) the cooperative buckling of neighbouring layers perpendicular to the radius. These mesoscale mechanisms acted to block the development of periodic patterns of multiple, uniformly distributed, shear bands that have been observed in all previously examined solid homogeneous materials and granular materials. The high-strain plastic flow within the shear bands resulted in the dramatic elongation and fragmentation of Ni and Al layers. The quenched reaction between Al and Ni was observed inside these trans-layer shear bands and in a number of the interfacial extruded wedge-shaped regions. The reaction initiated in these spots did not ignite the bulk of the material, demonstrating that these mesostructured Ni-Al laminates are able to withstand high-strain, high-strain rate deformation without reaction. Numerical simulations of the explosively collapsed samples were performed using the digitized geometry of corrugated laminates and predictions of the final, deformed mesostructures agree with the observed deformation patterns.

Dynamic behavior of particulate/porous energetic materials

Dynamic behavior of particulate/porous energetic materials in a broad range of dynamic conditions (low velocity impact and explosively driven expansion of rings) is discussed. Samples of these materials were fabricated using Cold Isostatic Pressing and Hot Isostatic Pressing with and without vacuum encapsulation. The current interest in these materials is due to the combination of their high strength and output of energy under critical conditions of mechanical deformation. They may exhibit high compressive and tensile strength with the ability to undergo bulk distributed fracture resulting in small size reactive fragments. The mechanical properties of these materials and the fragment sizes produced by fracturing are highly sensitive to mesostructure. For example, the dynamic strength of Al-W composites with fine W particles is significantly larger than the strength of composites with coarse W particles at the same porosity. The morphology of W inclusions had a strong effect on the dynamic strength and fracture pattern. Experimental results are compared with numerical data.

Mechanisms of fragmentation of aluminum-tungsten granular composites under dynamic loading

Numerical simulations of aluminum (Al) and tungsten (W) granular composite rings under various dynamic loading conditions due to explosive loading were performed. Three competing mechanisms of fragmentation were observed: a continuum level mechanism generating macrocracks with a size scale comparable to the case width, a mesoscale mechanism generating voids and microcracks at the unbonded Al/W interfaces due to tensile strains, and mesoscale jetting due to the development of large velocity gradients between the W particles and surrounding Al. These mesoscale mechanisms can be used to tailor the size of the fragments (macro to mesoscale) by selecting an appropriate initial mesostructure for a given loading condition.

Influence of mesoscale properties on the mechanisms of plastic strain accommodation in plane strain dynamic deformation of concentric Ni-Al laminates

The paper presents results on the mechanisms of plastic strain accommodation of Ni-Al laminates composed of concentrically aligned thin foils processed at different conditions undergoing a high strain radial collapse in thick walled cylinder experiments. Numerical simulations were conducted to examine the influence of mesoscale parameters (layer size, defects in mesostructure, and ductility) on the mechanisms of large plastic strain accommodation (high amplitude cooperative buckling; high frequency, low amplitude buckling; and kinking) at high strain rates in pure shear (plane strain) conditions. These mechanisms are dramatically different than observed in solid ductile and brittle homogeneous materials where a pattern of shear bands is the major mode of strain accommodation. It was observed that the layer thickness and ductility greatly influenced the dominant mode of plastic strain accommodation. The number of apices was related to the layer thickness. The presence of defects mainly had a localized area of influence. Numerical simulations showed good qualitative agreement with the experiments and provided the ability to simulate additional mesoscale and material dependencies: the role of friction/bonding, relative layer sizes, and sample thickness.

Modeling shear instability and fracture in dynamically deformed Al/W granular composites

Aluminum/Tungsten granular composites are materials which combine high density and strength with bulk distributed fracture of Al matrix into small particles under impact or shock loading. They are processed using cold and hot isostatic pressing of W particles/rods in the matrix of Al powder. Numerical models were used to elucidate the dynamic behavior of these materials under dynamic conditions simulating low velocity high energy impact in drop weight test (10 m/s). It was demonstrated that arrangement of W components and bonding between Al particles dramatically affect the samples shear localization and mode of fracture of the Al matrix in agreement with experiments.

Mechanisms of large strain, high strain rate plastic flow in the explosively driven collapse of Ni-Al laminate cylinders

Ni-Al laminates have shown promise as reactive materials due to their high energy release through intermetallic reaction. In addition to the traditional ignition methods, the reaction may be initiated in hot spots that can be created during mechanical loading. The explosively driven thick walled cylinder (TWC) technique was performed on two Ni-Al laminates composed of thin foil layers with different mesostructues: concentric and corrugated. These experiments were conducted to examine how these materials accommodate large plastic strain under high strain rates. Finite element simulations of these specimens with mesostuctures digitized from the experimental samples were conducted to provide insight into the mesoscale mechanisms of plastic flow. The dependence of dynamic behaviour on mesostructure may be used to tailor the hot spot formation and therefore the reactivity of the material system.

Dynamic fragmentation of Al-W granular rings with different mesostructures

Explosively driven fragmentation mechanisms of Al-W particulate composite rings were investigated. The effect of mesostructures (particulate Al and W, particulate Al and W fibers) and bonding between Al particles (processing via cold isostatic and cold isostatic + hot isostatic pressing) were determined. The kinematics of the expansion process was monitored using Photon Doppler Velocimetry measurements of the velocity of the outer surface of the rings. Numerical simulations of the expansion velocity of rings were in agreement with experimental data. Agglomerated fragments larger than sizes of initial Al particles were observed in experiments. The characteristic size of these agglomerates is most likely determined by the spacing between W inclusions. The simulations show that the dynamically expanded rings had clusters of particulates between shear bands (developing into macrocracks), which expand without significant plastic deformation, generating agglomerated fragments with sizes larger than initial Al p...