IMPLODING LINER MATERIAL STRENGTH MEASUREMENTS AT HIGH-STRAIN AND HIGH-STRAIN RATE

Imploding, cylindrical liners provide a unique, shockless means of simultaneously accessing high strain and high-strain-rate for measurement of strength of materials in plastic flow. The radial convergence in the liner geometry results in the liner thickening as the circumference becomes smaller. Strains of up to {approximately}1.25 and strain rates of up to {approximately}10{sup 6} sec{sup -1} can be readily achieved in a material sample placed inside of an aluminum driver liner, using the Pegasus II capacitor bank. This provides yield strength data at conditions where none presently exists. The heating from work done against the yield strength is measured with multichannel pyrometry from infrared radiation emitted by the material sample. The temperature data as a function of liner position are unfolded to give the yield strength along the strain, strain-rate trajectory. Proper design of the liner and sample configuration ensures that the current diffused into the sample adds negligible heating. An important issue, in this type of temperature measurement, is shielding of the pickup optics from other sources of radiation. At strains greater than those achievable on Pegasus, e.g. the LANL Atlas facility, some materials may be heated all the way to melt by this process. Recent data on 6061-T6 Aluminum will be compared with an existing model for strain and strain-rate heating. The liner configuration and pyrometry diagnostic will also be discussed.