High Strain Rate Response of Layered Micro Balloon Filled Aluminum

Recent interest in blast mitigation has given rise to the development of many novel materials and systems. Sandwich materials composed of a soft deformable core sandwiched between two strong face sheets and multilayer structures with alternating deformable and stiff layers have been actively explored for blast mitigation. Understanding the deformation, failure and energy absorption characteristics of such systems is critical for their successful design and application. The present work focuses on understanding the high strain rate response of multilayer structures in which the soft deformable layer is made of micro-balloon filled aluminum. High strain rate experiments are performed using a split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB). An ultra high speed camera is used simultaneously to resolve the deformation and failure process in real-time. Experiments are conducted on micro-balloon filled aluminum with different density to understand the effect of the density on the stress–strain characteristics.