High-strain-rate pressure-shear recovery: a new experimental technique

A new experimental technique is presented that allows for the recovery of a sample that has been subjected to a single well-characterized high-rate sh ear loading and a single well-characterized longitudinal pulse within a pre ssure-shear plate impact configuration. Pressure-shear plate impact experim ents are traditionally used to investigate the behavior of materials under conditions of very high rate (10(5)-10(6) s(-1)) simple shearing under high hydrostatic pressures. The new technique-known as High-Strain-Rate Pressur e-Shear Recovery or HSRPSR-is valuable for the investigation of microstruct ural influences on the plastic flow of materials under these conditions. Se veral successful experiments have been performed at strain rates of 10(5) s (-1) using the HSRPSR technique. The recovered specimens are compared with specimens obtained after deformation within conventional pressure-shear pla te impact experiments, As an example of the utility of this recovery techni que, the paper presents the microstructural characterization of specimens o f alpha-titanium after deformation at strain rates of 10(5) s(-1) and under superimposed hydrostatic pressures of several GPa. (C) 1999 Elsevier Scien ce Ltd. All rights reserved.