Investigation on the shock response of AA2014-T6 sheets

Abstract

This article presents experimental and numerical investigations of the dynamic response of thin aluminium alloy 2014-T6 plates subjected to blast loading. The blast loading is applied on the simply supported specimens of AA2014-T6 through a double-stage shock tube facility. A parametric study is conducted by varying the loading area, specimen width, span length, overhang, and thickness of the specimen. The spatial deformation of the specimens is recorded at 100,000 frames per second using Photron SA-Z cameras and is further analyzed for estimation of specimen deflection by the 3D Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technique. The deflection data is compared with finite element (FE) simulations results from ABAQUS/Explicit. A newly proposed imaging technique combining Background oriented schlieren (BOS) and DIC is utilized for quantifying the shock wave pressure variation due to wave expansion and specimen deflection. A new dynamic loading function incorporating the effect of specimen deflection, shock wave expansion, and high-pressure air thrust from the shock tube muzzle is utilized into the FE analysis for a better approximation of the actual loading experienced by the specimen. The plastic strains, plastic dissipation, and kinetic energy of the specimens are accessed and compared through FE simulations to study their shock response.