Shock induced mechanical response of a gamma-TiAl alloy

Plate impact experiments have been performed on samples of the gamma -titan ium alloy, Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb-1B to determine its mechanical response during s hock loading. This alloy displays pronounced precursor decay. Comparison wi th the findings of a previous investigation on a similar material shows tha t the variation in the Hugoniot Elastic Limit can be explained in terms of the microstructure. The Hugoniot has also been determined, and stress, shoc k, and particle velocity have been measured as independent variables. The d ifference of these data from those of a similar intermetallic alloy have be en explained in terms of the microstructure. It has been observed that the measured Hugoniot (in stress-particle velocity space) lies above that calcu lated from the measured shock velocities. We believe that this is due to th e high degree of work hardening that this type of intermetallic alloy displ ays. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.