Impact and fracture response of sintered 316L stainless steel subjected to high strain rate loading

This paper describes the use of a material testing system (NITS) and a compressive split-Hopkinson bar to investigate the impact behaviour of sintered 316L stainless steel at strain rates ranging from 10(-3) s(-1) to 7.5 x 10(3) s(-1). It is found that the flow stress-strain response of the sintered 316L stainless steel depends strongly on the applied strain rate. The rate of work hardening and the strain rate sensitivity change significantly as the strain rate increases. The flow behaviour of the sintered 316L stainless steel can be accurately predicted using a constitutive law based on Gurson's yield criterion and the flow rule of Khan, Huang and Liang (KHL). Microstructural observations reveal that the degree of localized grain deformation increases at higher strain rates. However, the pore density and the grain size vary as a reversible function of the strain rate. Impacts at strain rates higher than 5.6 x 10(3) s(-1) are found to induce adiabatic shear bands in the specimens. These specimens subsequently fail as a result of crack propagation along the dominant band. The fracture surfaces of the failed specimens are characterized by dimple-like structures, which are indicative of ductile failure. The depth and the density of these dimples are found to decrease with increasing strain rate. This observation indicates a reduction in the fracture resistance and is consistent with the observed macroscopic flow stress-strain response. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.