High-temperature pressure-shear plate impact studies on OFHC copper and pure WC

Abstract

The pressure-shear plate impact experiment has been modified to test materials at high temperatures. For high strain rate tests, a thin plate of the specimen material is sandwiched between two pure tungsten carbide plates which are heated by an induction heater. To overcome possible misalignment of the impact face of the target due to thermal expansion of the target supports, the alignment of the target assembly is maintained with remote controls and an optical lever in which a laser beam—reflected from the rear surface of the target—is displayed on a distant screen. Photoresist gratings, which normally provide the diffracted beams used in recording the transverse velocity of the target assembly, are replaced by temperature resistant titanium phase gratings produced by SEM lithography. Results are presented for tests on OFHC copper at temperatures ranging from 300 to 700 °C and strain rates of 105 to 106 s−1. Symmetric impact experiments on pure tungsten carbide provide the compressive and shear responses...