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FY23 Simulation of Elastic-Plastic Failure Propagation

Corona, Edmundo; Stershic, Andrew J.

This memo summarizes the simulation of ductile failure propagation work conducted under the ASC project “V&V of Ductile Failure” conducted during FY 23. Physically, the failure propagation consists of crack propagation in the material. In the numerical setting—specifically in a finite element model—propagation can be accomplished through element death when critical conditions occur locally at an element that is then deleted from the simulation. The validation of the finite element models is evaluated by direct comparison between the experimental and simulation results regarding the rate of crack growth and its influence on the load-deflection response of the specimens tested. This work considers two geometries that display stable crack propagation under displacement-controlled conditions. The first geometry consists of hat specimens loaded in compression with nominally identical geometries but made with three different materials: Steel A286, Al 7075-T651 and 304L stainless steel. The three materials represent a range of ductility values that affect the response and crack propagation within the specimen. The crack induced propagates under an essentially mode-II type of deformation. The second geometry consists of a pre-cracked 304L stainless steel compact tension test specimen loaded so as to induce a mode-I deformation at the crack.

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Sandia Mechanics Challenge 2023 Information Packet: Structure with a Threaded Fastener Joint

Kramer, S.L.B.; Ivanoff, Thomas; Corona, Edmundo

The Sandia Mechanics Challenge (SMC) provides the solid-mechanics community a forum for assessing its ability to predict mechanical behavior in structures and materials through a blind, round-robin format. Computationalists are asked to predict the behavior of an unfamiliar geometry given experimental calibration data, their predictions are compared to experimental measurements of the SMC scenario, and then the participants assess and compare their approaches, documenting their findings. The SMC broadens the scope of Sandia-hosted benchmarking problems that previously focused on ductile failure through the Sandia Fracture Challenges, enabling an enduring, community-wide self-assessment of predictive capabilities for a variety of mechanics topics. The SMC is part of the Structural Reliability Partnership, which offers other benchmarking challenges hosted by several participating institutions.

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Validation of material models for puncture of 7075-T651 aluminum plate

International Journal of Solids and Structures

Corona, Edmundo; Spletzer, Matthew; Lester, Brian T.; Fietek, Carter J.

Plate puncture simulations are challenging computational tasks that require advanced material models including high strain rate and thermal-mechanical effects on both deformation and failure, plus finite element techniques capable of representing large deformations and material failure. The focus of this work is on the material issues, which require large sets of experiments, flexible material models and challenging calibration procedures. In this study, we consider the puncture of 12.7 mm thick, 7075-T651 aluminum alloy plates by a cylindrical punch with a hemispherical nose and diameter of 12.7 mm. The plasticity and ductile failure models were isotropic with calibration data obtained from uniaxial tension tests at different temperatures and strain rates plus quasi-static notched tension tests and shear-dominated tests described here. Sixteen puncture experiments were conducted to identify the threshold penetration energy, mode of puncture and punch acceleration during impact, The punch was mounted on a 139 kg mass and dropped on the plates with different impact speeds. Since the mass was the same in all tests, the quantity of interest was the impact speed. The axis and velocity of the punch were perpendicular to the plate surface. The mean threshold punch speed was 3.05 m/s, and the mode of failure was plugging by thermal-mechanical shear banding accompanied by scabbing fragments. Application of the material models in simulations of the tests yielded accurate estimates of the threshold puncture speed and of the mode of failure. Time histories of the punch acceleration compared well between simulation and test. Remarkably, the success of the simulations occurred in spite of even the smallest element used being larger than the width of the shear bands.

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Mass Property Calculator

Corona, Edmundo; Fietek, Carter J.

A mass property calculator has been developed to compute the moment of inertia properties of an assemblage of parts that make up a system. The calculator can take input from spreadsheets or Creo mass property files or it can be interfaced with Phoenix Integration Model Center. The input must include the centroidal moments of inertia of each part with respect to its local coordinates, the location of the centroid of each part in the system coordinates and the Euler angles needed to rotate from the part coordinates to the system coordinates. The output includes the system total mass, centroid and mass moment of inertia properties. The input/output capabilities allow the calculator to interface with external optimizers. In addition to describing the calculator, this document serves as its user's manual. The up-to-date version of the calculator can be found in the Git repository https://cee-gitlab.sandia.gov/cj?ete/mass-properties-calculator.

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Rate and temperature independent model calibrations for J2 plasticity and Wilkins failure models for 17-4PH H1150 stainless steel

Corona, Edmundo

This memo’s objective is to report a calibration of the J2 plasticity model with the Wilkins ductile failure criterion for 17-4 PH H1150 stainless steel under slow loading at room temperature. The calibration of the hardening function was based on uniaxial tension tests, while that of the failure model included data from tension tests on notched specimens, a butterfly specimen shear test, and a set of interrupted compression tests on shear hat specimens. The procedure was that described in, minus the rate and temperature dependence.

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Effects of finite element discretization and model simplification on calculations of ductile failure initiation

Corona, Edmundo; Fietek, Carter J.

The finite element method is a scheme to discretize the infinite number of degrees of freedom in continuum-level problems down to a finite number of degrees of freedom. This discretization is done in conjunction with methods that also reduce the field differential equations to sets of algebraic ones that can be solved by arithmetical operations. Therefore, solutions attained by finite element models are approximations to the exact solutions of the field equations.

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Response of 304L stainless steel and 6061-T651 aluminum alloy at -40 °C

Corona, Edmundo; Laursen, Christopher M.; Fietek, Carter J.

The objective of this work is to extend the thermal-mechanical, elastic-plastic calibrations for 304L stainless steel [1] and and 6061-T651 aluminum alloy [2] to the regime between room temperature and -40 °C. The basis to extend the calibration consisted of new uniaxial tension tests conducted at -40 °C using the same plate material stocks, circular cylindrical specimen geometries and testing apparatus as previously, followed by attempts to fit power-law hardening functions to replicate the response observed in the specimens and then extend the yield, hardening constant, hardening exponent and rate constant functions in the calibrations to cover the new temperature regime.

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Power Law Hardening Fit for Inconel 718 Material

Fietek, Carter J.; Corona, Edmundo

The objective of this work is to create an accurate elastic-plastic J2 plasticity model calibration for the Inconel 718 material at room temperature for use in finite element models. This calibration was made using a power-law hardening model of form σ = σy + $Aε^{n}_{p}$ where A and n are empirically determined constants, and σy is the proportional limit.

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Anisotropic plasticity model forms for extruded Al 7079: Part I, calibration

International Journal of Solids and Structures

Corona, Edmundo; Kramer, S.L.B.; Scherzinger, William M.; Jones, A.R.

The choice of model form used to represent the anisotropic yield response of metals can depend strongly on the type and amount of data available for calibration. This two-part contribution considers the calibration (part I) of three yield functions: von Mises, Hill-48 and Yld2004-18p by Barlat and co-workers. This is followed by model verification exercises (part II). The material used was a 7079 aluminum alloy extruded tube. The calibration data were measurements of yield stress and Lankford ratio from uniaxial tension specimens cut along 12 orientations. Given that the tube was relatively thick-walled, some of the orientations included through-thickness components. This allowed the calibrations to be based exclusively on test data, without the need for parameter assumptions or supplemental crystal plasticity calculations. The Yld2004-18p function provided the best fit to the data available due to its 18 anisotropy parameters plus an unspecified exponent, compared to the quadratic Hill function with 6 anisotropy parameters and to the isotropic von Mises function. Whereas the Yld2004-18p function did not warrant further exploration due to the excellent fit it provided, the results showed that care must be taken when using Hill’s function. Finally, due to its parametrization with only 6 anisotropy parameters, it can significantly misrepresent the yield behavior depending on the calibration data used, possibly rendering it less desirable than a simple isotropic function in some applications.

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Thermal-Mechanical Elastic-Plastic and Ductile Failure Model Calibrations for 6061-T651 Aluminum Alloy from Plate

Corona, Edmundo; Kramer, S.L.B.; Lester, Brian T.; Jones, A.R.; Sanborn, Brett; Fietek, Carter J.

Numerical simulations of metallic structures undergoing rapid loading into the plastic range require material models that accurately represent the response. In general, the material response can be seen as having four interrelated parts: the baseline response under slow loading, the effect of strain rate, the conversion of plastic work into heat and the effect of temperature. In essence, the material behaves in a thermal-mechanical manner if the loading is fast enough so when heat is generated by plastic deformation it raises the temperature and therefore influences the mechanical response. In these cases, appropriate models that can capture the aspects listed above are necessary. The matters of interest here are the elastic-plastic response and ductile failure behavior of 6061-T651 aluminum alloy under the conditions described above. The work was accomplished by first designing and conducting a material test program to provide data for the calibration of a modular $J_2$ plasticity model with isotropic hardening as well as a ductile failure model. Both included modules that accounted for temperature and strain rate dependence. The models were coupled with an adiabatic heating module to calculate the temperature rise due to the conversion of plastic work to heat. The test program included uniaxial tension tests conducted at room temperature, 150 and 300 C and at strain rates between 10–4 and 103 1/s as well as four geometries of notched tension specimens and two tests on specimens with shear-dominated deformations. The test data collected allowed the calibration of both the plasticity and the ductile failure models. Most test specimens were extracted from a single piece of plate to maintain consistency. Notched tension tests came from a possibly different plate, but from the same lot. When using the model in structural finite element calculations, element formulations and sizes different from those used to model the test specimens in the calibration are likely to be used. A brief investigation demonstrated that the failure model can be particularly sensitive to the element selection and provided an initial guide to compensate in a specific example.

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Thermal-Mechanical Elastic-Plastic and Ductile Failure Model Calibrations for 304L Stainless Steel Alloy

Corona, Edmundo; Kramer, S.L.B.; Lester, Brian T.; Jones, A.R.; Sanborn, Brett; Shand, Lyndsay; Fietek, Carter J.

Numerical simulations of metallic structures undergoing rapid loading into the plastic range require material models that accurately represent the response. In general, the material response can be seen as having four interrelated parts: the baseline response under slow loading, the effect of strain rate, the conversion of plastic work into heat and the effect of temperature. In essence, the material behaves in a thermal-mechanical manner if the loading is fast enough so when heat is generated by plastic deformation it raises the temperature and therefore influences the mechanical response. In these cases, appropriate models that can capture the aspects listed above are necessary. The material of interest here is 304L stainless steel, and the objective of this work is to calibrate thermal-mechanical models: one for the constitutive behavior and another for failure. The work was accomplished by first designing and conducting a material test program to provide data for the calibration of the models. The test program included uniaxial tension tests conducted at room temperature, 150 and 300 C and at strain rates between 10–4 and 103 1/s. It also included notched tension and shear-dominated compression hat tests specifically designed to calibrate the failure model. All test specimens were extracted from a single piece of plate to maintain consistency. The constitutive model adopted was a modular $J_2$ plasticity model with isotropic hardening that included rate and temperature dependence. A criterion for failure initiation based on a critical value of equivalent plastic strain fitted the failure data appropriately and was adopted. Possible ranges of the values of the parameters of the models were determined partially on historical data from calibrations of the same alloy from other lots and are given here. The calibration of the parameters of the models were based on finite element simulations of the various material tests using relatively ne meshes and hexahedral elements. When using the model in structural finite element calculations, however, element formulations and sizes different from those in the calibration are likely to be used. A brief investigation demonstrated that the failure initiation predictions can be particularly sensitive to the element selection and provided an initial guide to compensate for the effect of element size in a specific example.

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Anisotropic plasticity model forms for extruded Al 7079: Part II, validation

International Journal of Solids and Structures

Jones, E.M.C.; Corona, Edmundo; Jones, A.R.; Scherzinger, William M.; Kramer, S.L.B.

This is the second part of a two-part contribution on modeling of the anisotropic elastic-plastic response of aluminum 7079 from an extruded tube. Part I focused on calibrating a suite of yield and hardening functions from tension test data; Part II concentrates on evaluating those calibrations. Here, a rectangular validation specimen with a blind hole was designed to provide heterogeneous strain fields that exercise the material anisotropy, while at the same time avoiding strain concentrations near sample edges where Digital Image Correlation (DIC) measurements are difficult to make. Specimens were extracted from the tube in four different orientations and tested in tension with stereo-DIC measurements on both sides of the specimen. Corresponding Finite Element Analysis (FEA) with calibrated isotropic (von Mises) and anisotropic (Yld2004-18p) yield functions were also conducted, and both global force-extension curves as well as full-field strains were compared between the experiments and simulations. Specifically, quantitative full-field strain error maps were computed using the DIC-leveling approach proposed by Lava et al. The specimens experienced small deviations from ideal boundary conditions in the experiments, which had a first-order effect on the results. Therefore, the actual experimental boundary conditions had to be applied to the FEA in order to make valid comparisons. The predicted global force-extension curves agreed well with the measurements overall, but were sensitive to the boundary conditions in the nonlinear regime and could not differentiate between the two yield functions. Interrogation of the strain fields both qualitatively and quantitatively showed that the Yld2004-18p model was clearly able to better describe the strain fields on the surface of the specimen compared to the von Mises model. These results justify the increased complexity of the calibration process required for the Yld2004-18p model in applications where capturing the strain field evolution accurately is important, but not if only the global force-extension response of the elastic–plastic region is of interest.

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Empirical Formula for Puncture Energy of Flat Metal Plates by a Cylindrical Flat Punch

Corona, Edmundo

Impact problems of plate-like parts by punch-like objects with relatively large mass moving at slow speeds of a few feet per second constitute a subset of impact problems of interest at Sandia. This is in contrast to small objects moving in the range of hundreds or thousands of feet per second or higher. The objective of this work is to develop a simple formula that can be used to estimate a lower bound for the puncture energy of metal plates impacted by cylindrical, essentially rigid punches of circular cross-section and at nose. Such geometry is used as a basis in the design of puncture mitigation barriers or procedures. This was accomplished by deriving an expression using non-dimensional analysis and then calibrating it based on tests results in the range of speeds of interest. Lower bounds can then be determined based on confidence intervals or factors of safety.

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Material Testing for Shear-Dominated Ductile Failure

Corona, Edmundo; Kramer, S.L.B.; Lester, Brian T.

An initial foray into the design of specimens that can be used to provide data about the quasistatic ductile failure of metals when subjected to shear-dominated (low triaxiality) states of stress was undertaken. Four specimen geometries made from two materials with different ductility (Al 7075, lower ductility and steel A286, higher ductility) were considered as candidates. Based on results from analysis and experimentation, it seems that two show promise for further consideration. Whereas preliminary results indicate that the Johnson-Cook model fit the failure data for Al 7075 well, it did not fit the data for steel A286. Further work is needed to consolidate the results and evaluate other failure models that may fit the steel data better, as well as to extend the results of this work to the dynamic loading regime.

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FY18 Thermal Mechanical Failure: SS-304L calibration Taylor-Quinney parameter measurement and kinematic hardening plasticity

Corona, Edmundo; Jones, A.R.; Rees, Jennifer A.

The Thermal-Mechanical Failure project conducted in FY 2018 was divided into three sub projects: 1. Calibration of the uniaxial response of 304L stainless steel specimens at three temperatures (20, 150 and 310°C) and two strain rates (2 x 10-4 and 8 x 10-2 s-1); 2. Measurements of the fraction of plastic work that is converted to heat (Taylor-Quinney parameter) for 304L stainless steel. This fraction is usually assumed to be 0.95 in analysis because data is only available for a few materials; 3. Comparison of the predicted responses by isotropic and kinematic hardening plasticity models in a couple of simplified structural problems. One problem is a can crush followed by pressurization and is loosely associated with a crush-and-burn scenario. The other problem consists of a drop scenario of a thin-walled cylinder that carries a cantilevered internal mass.

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MLEP-Fail calibration for 1/8 inch thick cast plate of 17-4 steel

Corona, Edmundo

The purpose of the work presented in this memo was to calibrate the Sierra material model Multilinear Elastic-Plastic Hardening Model with Failure (MLEP-Fail) for 1/8 inch thick cast plate of 17-4 steel. The calibration approach is essentially the same as that recently used in a previous memo using data from smooth and notched tensile specimens. The notched specimens were manufactured with three notch radii R = 1=8, 1/32 and 1/64 inches. The dimensions of the smooth and notched specimens are given in the prints in Appendix A. Two cast plates, Plate 3 and Plate 4, with nominally identical properties were considered.

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Dynamic elastic-plastic response of a 2-DOF mass-spring system

Corona, Edmundo

The objective of the work presented here arose from abnormal, drop scenarios and specifically the question of how the accelerations and accumulation of plastic strains of internal components could be a ected by the material properties of the external structure. In some scenarios, the impact loads can induce cyclic motion of the internal components. Therefore, a second objective was to explore di erences that could be expected when simulations are conducted using isotropic hardening vs. kinematic hardening plasticity models. The simplest model that can be used to investigate the objectives above is a two-degree-offreedom mass/spring model where the springs exhibit elastic-plastic behavior. The purpose of this memo is to develop such model and present a few results that address the objectives.

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Multilinear stress-strain and failure calibrations for Ti-6Al-4V

Corona, Edmundo

This memo concerns calibration of an elastic-plastic J2 material model for Ti-6Al-4V (grade 5) alloy based on tensile uniaxial stress-strain data obtained in the laboratory. In addition, tension tests on notched specimens provided data to calibrate two ductile failure models: Johnson-Cook and Wellman's tearing parameter. The tests were conducted by Kim Haulen- beek and Dave Johnson (1528) in the Structural Mechanics Laboratory (SML) during late March and early April, 2017. The SML EWP number was 4162. The stock material was a TIMETALR® 6-4 Titanium billet with 9 in. by 9 in. square section and length of 137 in. The product description indicates that it was a forging delivered in annealed condition (2 hours @ 1300oF, AC at the mill). The tensile mechanical properties reported in the material certi cation are given in Table 1, where σo represents the 0.2% strain offset yield stress, σu the ultimate stress, εf the elongation at failure and R.A. the reduction in area.

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Experimentally Enhanced Computation (ExEC): Traditional Calibration of Anisotropic Yield Functions

Corona, Edmundo; Kramer, S.L.B.

This memo addresses the calibration of anisotropic yield functions based on data obtained from a series of uniaxial tension specimens extracted from a tubular Al 7079 circular cylindrical extrusion. Achieving the calibrations completed an important step in the Experimentally Enhanced Computations (ExEC) project. The focus of the project is on novel calibration approaches that will be based on advanced diagnostics and numerical simulations with the intention of reducing the overall calibration effort. The test data used here resulted from traditional tensile tests on specimens cut at 12 orientations within the extrusion. Two anisotropic yield surfaces — Hill’s (1948) and Barlat’s (2005) — were calibrated based on the test data. The methods used to conduct the calibrations are described, and the results show that the material exhibited significant yield anisotropy. The larger number of parameters in Barlat’s yield function allowed it to fit the test data more accurately than Hill’s. Although work remains to assess the sensitivity of the calibrated model parameters to various factors, the methods implemented and the results obtained here provide bases for further work and useful benchmarks for future calibrations to be conducted using the novel approach.

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Wave transmission through silicone foam pads in a compression Kolsky bar apparatus. Comparisons between simulations and measurements

Corona, Edmundo; Song, Bo

This memo concerns the transmission of mechanical signals through silicone foam pads in a compression Kolsky bar set-up. The results of numerical simulations for four levels of pad pre-compression and two striker velocities were compared directly to test measurements to assess the delity of the simulations. The nite element model simulated the Kolsky tests in their entirety and used the hyperelastic `hyperfoam' model for the silicone foam pads. Calibration of the hyperfoam model was deduced from quasi-static compression data. It was necessary, however, to augment the material model by adding sti ness proportional damping in order to generate results that resembled the experimental measurements. Based on the results presented here, it is important to account for the dynamic behavior of polymeric foams in numerical simulations that involve high loading rates.

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Shear dominated failure in the 'hat' specimen from the 2013 Sandia Fracture Challenge

Corona, Edmundo

The objective of this memo is to present a brief report of the progress achieved during FY2016 on the investigation of ductile failure in the 2013 Sandia Fracture Challenge specimen. The experimental investigation was conducted with both the original steel A286 material used in the fracture challenge as well as with Al 7075-T651. The new results include further microscopy work for the steel A286 specimens, failure criterion verification for both materials and the implementation of a finite element model containing `material imperfections' to simulate the limit load in the response of the steel A286 specimens. Funding used to conduct the work presented here was provided by the ASC V&V program on validation of shear failure (Benjamin Reedlunn, PI) and from Sandia's LDRD program.

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The second Sandia Fracture Challenge: predictions of ductile failure under quasi-static and moderate-rate dynamic loading

International Journal of Fracture

Boyce, Brad L.; Kramer, S.L.B.; Bosiljevac, Thomas B.; Corona, Edmundo; Moore, J.A.; Elkhodary, K.; Simha, C.H.M.; Williams, B.W.; Cerrone, A.R.; Nonn, A.; Hochhalter, J.D.; Bomarito, G.F.; Warner, J.E.; Carter, B.J.; Warner, D.H.; Ingraffea, A.R.; Zhang, T.; Fang, X.; Lua, J.; Chiaruttini, V.; Maziere, M.; Feld-Payet, S.; Yastrebov, V.A.; Besson, J.; Chaboche, J.L.; Lian, J.; Di, Y.; Wu, B.; Novokshanov, D.; Vajragupta, N.; Kucharczyk, P.; Brinnel, V.; Dobereiner, B.; Munstermann, S.; Neilsen, Michael K.; Dion, K.; Karlson, K.N.; Foulk, James W.; Brown, A.A.; Veilleux, Michael G.; Bignell, John; Sanborn, Scott E.; Jones, Christopher A.; Mattie, P.D.; Pack, K.; Wierzbicki, T.; Chi, S.W.; Lin, S.P.; Mahdavi, A.; Predan, J.; Zadravec, J.; Gross, A.J.; Ravi-Chandar, K.; Xue, L.

Ductile failure of structural metals is relevant to a wide range of engineering scenarios. Computational methods are employed to anticipate the critical conditions of failure, yet they sometimes provide inaccurate and misleading predictions. Challenge scenarios, such as the one presented in the current work, provide an opportunity to assess the blind, quantitative predictive ability of simulation methods against a previously unseen failure problem. Rather than evaluate the predictions of a single simulation approach, the Sandia Fracture Challenge relies on numerous volunteer teams with expertise in computational mechanics to apply a broad range of computational methods, numerical algorithms, and constitutive models to the challenge. This exercise is intended to evaluate the state of health of technologies available for failure prediction. In the first Sandia Fracture Challenge, a wide range of issues were raised in ductile failure modeling, including a lack of consistency in failure models, the importance of shear calibration data, and difficulties in quantifying the uncertainty of prediction [see Boyce et al. (Int J Fract 186:5–68, 2014) for details of these observations]. This second Sandia Fracture Challenge investigated the ductile rupture of a Ti–6Al–4V sheet under both quasi-static and modest-rate dynamic loading (failure in (Formula presented.) 0.1 s). Like the previous challenge, the sheet had an unusual arrangement of notches and holes that added geometric complexity and fostered a competition between tensile- and shear-dominated failure modes. The teams were asked to predict the fracture path and quantitative far-field failure metrics such as the peak force and displacement to cause crack initiation. Fourteen teams contributed blind predictions, and the experimental outcomes were quantified in three independent test labs. Additional shortcomings were revealed in this second challenge such as inconsistency in the application of appropriate boundary conditions, need for a thermomechanical treatment of the heat generation in the dynamic loading condition, and further difficulties in model calibration based on limited real-world engineering data. As with the prior challenge, this work not only documents the ‘state-of-the-art’ in computational failure prediction of ductile tearing scenarios, but also provides a detailed dataset for non-blind assessment of alternative methods.

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Numerical Simulations of the Kolsky Compression Bar Test

Corona, Edmundo

The Kolsky compression bar, or split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB), is an ex- perimental apparatus used to obtain the stress-strain response of material specimens at strain rates in the order of 10 2 to 10 4 1/s. Its operation and associated data re- duction are based on principles of one-dimensional wave propagation in rods. Second order effects such as indentation of the bars by the specimen and wave dispersion in the bars, however, can significantly affect aspects of the measured material response. Finite element models of the experimental apparatus were used here to demonstrate these two effects. A procedure proposed by Safa and Gary (2010) to account for bar indentation was also evaluated and shown to improve the estimation of the strain in the bars significantly. The use of pulse shapers was also shown to alleviate the effects of wave dispersion. Combining the two can lead to more reliable results in Kolsky compression bar testing.

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Ductile Tearing of Thin Aluminum Plates Under Blast Loading: Predictions with Fully Coupled Models and Biaxial Material Response Characterization

Corona, Edmundo; Gullerud, Arne S.; Haulenbeek, Kimberly K.; Reu, P.L.

The work presented in this report concerns the response and failure of thin 2024- T3 aluminum alloy circular plates to a blast load produced by the detonation of a nearby spherical charge. The plates were fully clamped around the circumference and the explosive charge was located centrally with respect to the plate. The principal objective was to conduct a numerical model validation study by comparing the results of predictions to experimental measurements of plate deformation and failure for charges with masses in the vicinity of the threshold between no tearing and tearing of the plates. Stereo digital image correlation data was acquired for all tests to measure the deflection and strains in the plates. The size of the virtual strain gage in the measurements, however, was relatively large, so the strain measurements have to be interpreted accordingly as lower bounds of the actual strains in the plate and of the severity of the strain gradients. A fully coupled interaction model between the blast and the deflection of the structure was considered. The results of the validation exercise indicated that the model predicted the deflection of the plates reasonably accurately as well as the distribution of strain on the plate. The estimation of the threshold charge based on a critical value of equivalent plastic strain measured in a bulge test, however, was not accurate. This in spite of efforts to determine the failure strain of the aluminum sheet under biaxial stress conditions. Further work is needed to be able to predict plate tearing with some degree of confidence. Given the current technology, at least one test under the actual blast conditions where the plate tears is needed to calibrate the value of equivalent plastic strain when failure occurs in the numerical model. Once that has been determined, the question of the explosive mass value at the threshold could be addressed with more confidence.

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Results 1–50 of 74
Results 1–50 of 74