Spall behavior of rolled aluminum 5083-H116 plate

Abstract

The spall properties of rolled Al 5083-H116 plate are investigated using symmetric plate impact experiments over the stress range 1.5–6.2 GPa. Rear free surface velocity measurements made employing Velocity Interferometer System for Any Reflector interferometry reveal velocity profiles with clear signals of the Hugoniot elastic limit (HEL) and velocity pullback, indicative of a transition from elastic to plastic behavior and spalling. Experiments were performed on samples obtained both through the thickness and along all of the three principal axes of the rolled plate. For impact through the thickness, the average values of the HEL and spall strength are 0.43 GPa and 0.81 GPa, respectively. Decreasing the flyer plate and sample thicknesses resulted in an increased spall strength value of 0.95 GPa, while the HEL remained the same. The spall strength along the longitudinal (rolling) direction was 1.06 GPa versus 0.95 GPa for impact along either transverse direction. Spall damage for this impact direction often propagated away from the spall plane in the direction of impact and along the grain boundaries. For impact through the thickness, the fracture surface revealed a mixed mode of ductile and intergranular fracture that was not present for the fracture surface in the other two directions. This mixed fracture mode seems to correspond to a shoulder observed in the free surface velocity traces after the pullback. In all cases, cracked brittle inclusions were observed near the spall damage regions, indicating their role in nucleating voids during spall failure.