A Shear Compression Disk Specimen with Controlled Stress Triaxiality Under Dynamic Loading

This paper presents an experimental and numerical study of the potential of the Shear Compression Disk specimen (SCD) to characterize the plastic flow and fracture of metals under various levels of stress triaxiality at strain rates of up to 10(4) 1/s. The main loading mode in that specimen is shear with triaxiality ranging from 0 to -0.8. The specimen is relatively small and fits into a standard split Hopkinson pressure bar system. Aluminum 7075-T651 alloy was chosen for a test case study. Experimental and numerical investigations reveal the adequacy of the SCD specimen for the study of mechanical properties of materials under high strain-rates and low, though wide, range of stress triaxialities.