Investigation of mechanical and microstructural aspects of plastic shear localization at different types of dynamic loading

Experimental studies on the response of samples to dynamic loading were performed using a split Hopkinson-Kolsky bar and in a series of perforation tests. In-situ investigations of the thermodynamics of deformation processes made it possible to identify the characteristic deformation localization stages. Temperature fields were recorded with a high-speed infrared camera CEDIP Silver 450M, and strain localization in the samples was evaluated with a strain noninvasive measurement system StrainMaster. Temperature measurements made in the localization zone did not support a generally accepted concept that the strain localization mechanism is the mechanism governed by thermoplastic instability. The microstructural analysis of the samples stored after the experiment was carried out using an optical interferometer-profilometer and a scanning electron microscope. The analysis revealed the correlated behavior of the ensemble of defects, which can be classified as a structural transition providing strain localization. The data of experimental studies, the examination of the structure of deformed samples, as well as the data of numerical modeling performed with consideration of the kinetics of accumulation of microdefects in the material suggest that one of the mechanisms of plastic strain localization at high loading rates is associated with the jump-like processes in the defect structure of the material.