Different from static loading conditions, the plastic flow behavior of metallic materials under high strain rate loadings, such as impact and explosion, exhibits special rate-temperature coupling effect and deformation micro-mechanism. The design and evaluation of metallic structures used in aerospace and navigation, energy mining, nuclear industry, public safety, disaster prevention, etc. require a large number of experiments under dynamic loadings. In recent years, the rapid-developing computational mechanics can be used to analyze the structural mechanical response under complex loading, evaluate the structural safety and optimize the structural design, and can also save the experimental costs. Accurate dynamic constitutive description of materials is the basis for the reliability of structural numerical simulation. In this paper, the dynamic plastic deformation behavior and micro-mechanism of metals, as well as the origin and development of the dynamic constitutive relationship of metals are reviewed and summarized. Over wide ranges of strain rate and temperature, the metals exhibit complex rate-temperature coupling effect, such as dynamic strain aging and segmented strain rate sensitivity. The high strain rate may lead to dynamic recrystallization, deformation twinning and shock-induced phase transition. The existing constitutive models can be divided into three types: phenomenological models, physically based models and artificial neural network models. Phenomenological models refer to the constitutive models established merely by describing experimental phenomena without considering the internal physical mechanism. Physically based macro-scale continuum models can represent true physical quantities for documenting and tracking the evolution which takes place within metallic materials. Artificial neural network models are good at reproducing the plastic flow behavior as function of many factors, such as strain rate, temperature and plastic strain, without the need of identifying complex logic relationships and parameters within the system. The developments, prediction capabilities, and application scopes of the three types of dynamic constitutive models are illustrated in detail and compared horizontally. In addition, some objective suggestions for the further development of dynamic constitutive descriptions for metals are proposed. Phenomenological models are favored for their ease in application, artificial neural network models are favored for their high prediction accuracy. Recent trend has increased the focus on physically based models. This type of model extends application to a wider strain range and more clearly represents the influence mechanism of strain rate, temperature and strain. © 2022 Explosion and Shock Waves. All rights reserved.
