Silicone foams and rubber are used in a variety of applications to protect internal components from external shock impact. Understanding how these materials mitigate impact energy is a crucial step in designing more effective shock isolation systems for components. In this study, a Kolsky bar with pre-compression and passive radial confinement capabilities was used to investigate the response of silicone foams and rubber subjected to impact loading at different speeds. Using the preload capability, silicone foam samples were subjected to increasing levels of pre-strain. Frequency-based analyses were carried out on results from silicone foams and rubber to study the effect of both pre-strain and material processing conditions on the mechanism of energy dissipation in the frequency domain. Additionally, effects of impact speed on energy dissipation through silicone foams and rubber were investigated.
Threaded joints are a common fastening method in applications where disassembly may be required. With a fair amount of investigation of static behavior of threaded joints, less emphasis has been placed on the behavior of threaded joints subjected to transient impact loads. Understanding how energy is transferred across threaded joints under impact loading conditions is critical for improved design and optimization for extreme mechanical environments. Many factors, such as pre - torque, pre - tension load, and impact speed can affect how energy is transferred or dissipated across threaded joins. In addition, high-fidelity numerical simulation of mechanical response of threaded components under blast or impact loading requires reliable experiments and subsequent analyses. In this study, the energy dissipation behavior through a threaded joint under impact loading conditions is investigated using a Kolsky tension bar. The aim is to study possible energy dissipation behavior in both time and frequency domains while the threaded joint remains intact. New analytical methods to understand both time-and frequency-domain behavior of threaded joints are presented. Energy dissipation characteristics through steel-to-steel and steel-to-aluminum threaded joints were then investigated with varying parameters such as pre-torque and impact velocity.
Understanding the interfacial behavior of two materials sliding relative to each other is import ant in computational modeling and simulating impact or shock response of components, subsystems, and even full-scale systems. Although often considered as a constant for different applications, the coefficient of friction may be dependent on a number of factors such as normal force, roughness, material type, temperature, and sliding velocity. In this study, a new method based on a Kolsky tension bar with a custom-made friction fixture was developed for measurement of the dynamic friction coefficient between two metallic materials at high sliding velocities. In this new method, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) thin film force sensors were used to measure the normal force, while a strain gage on the transmission bar was used to measure the friction force. As such, the dynamic friction coefficient is calculated with the normal and friction forces. The impact velocity can be varied to investigate the dependency of friction coefficient on impact velocity. To evaluate the technique, friction coefficients between 4340 steel and 7075-T6 we re measured at three different sliding velocities of 4, 8 and 11 m/s. Effects of surface roughness, normal force, and impact speed were also explored . Decreased static and kinetic friction coefficient s were observed when the normal force was increased at constant sliding velocity. With increasing velocity, the friction coefficient remained fairly constant for the three velocities studied. Higher friction coefficients were measured when the specimen roughness was increased.
Elastomeric materials are used as shock isolation materials in a variety of environments to dampen vibrations and/or absorb energy from external impact to minimize energy transfer between two objects or bodies. Some applications require the shock isolation materials to behave as a low-pass mechanical filter to mitigate the shock/impact at high frequencies but transmit the energy at low frequencies with minimal attenuation. To fulfill this requirement, a shock isolation material needs to be carefully evaluated and selected with proper experimental design, procedures, and analyses. In this study, a Kolsky bar was modified with precompression (up to 15.5 kN) and confinement capabilities to evaluate low-pass shock isolation performance in terms of acceleration attenuation through a variety of elastomers. Also investigated were the effects of preload and specimen geometry on the low-pass shock isolation response.
Low carbon, high strength steel alloys such as Vascomax steels are used in a wide variety of extreme environments due to their high strength, high fracture toughness, and stability over a wide range of temperatures. In this study, Vascomax® C250 steel was dynamically characterized in compression using Kolsky compression bar techniques at two strain rates of 1000 and 3000 s-1. A pair of impedance-matched tungsten carbide platens were implemented to protect damage to the bar ends. The tungsten carbide platens were experimentally calibrated as system compliance which was then properly corrected for actual specimen strain measurements. In addition, elastic indentation of the high-strength compression sample into the platens was also evaluated and showed negligible effect on the specimen strain measurements. The Vascomax® C250 steel exhibited strain-rate effects on the compressive stress-strain curves. The dynamic yield strength was approximately 18% higher than quasi-static yield strength obtained from hardness tests. The dynamic true stress-strain curves of the Vascomax® C250 steel in compression were also computed and then compared with the previously obtained true tensile stress-strain curves at the same strain rates. The Vascomax® C250 steel exhibited a reasonable symmetry in dynamic compression and tensile stress-strain response. However, the fracture strains in dynamic compression were smaller than those in dynamic tension probably due to different fracture mechanisms in the different loading modes.
Steel grades such as A572 and AISI 4140 are often used for applications where high rate or impact loading may occur. A572 is a hot-rolled carbon steel that is used where a high strength to weight ratio is desired. A grade such as AISI 4140 offers decent corrosion resistance due to higher chromium and molybdenum content and is commonly used in firearm parts, pressurized gas tubes, and structural tubing for roll cages. In these scenarios, the material may undergo high rate loading. Thus, material properties including failure and fracture response at relevant loading rates must be understood so that numerical simulations of impact events accurately capture the deformation and failure/fracture behavior of the involved materials. In this study, the high strain rate tensile response of A572 and 4140 steel are investigated. An increase in yield strength of approximately 28% was observed for 4140 steel when comparing 0.001 s-1 strain rate to 3000 s-1 experiments. A572 showed an increase in yield strength of approximately 52% when the strain rate increased from quasi-static to 2750 s-1. Effects on true stress and strain at failure for the two materials are also discussed.
Low carbon, high strength steel alloys such as Vascomax steels are used in a wide variety of extreme environments due to their high strength, high fracture toughness, and stability over a wide range of temperatures. In this study, Vascomax® C250 steel was dynamically characterized in compression using Kolsky compression bar techniques at two strain rates of 1000 and 3000 s-1. A pair of impedance-matched tungsten carbide platens were implemented to protect damage to the bar ends. The tungsten carbide platens were experimentally calibrated as system compliance which was then properly corrected for actual specimen strain measurements. In addition, elastic indentation of the high-strength compression sample into the platens was also evaluated and showed negligible effect on the specimen strain measurements. The Vascomax® C250 steel exhibited strain-rate effects on the compressive stress-strain curves. The dynamic yield strength was approximately 18% higher than quasi-static yield strength obtained from hardness tests. The dynamic true stress-strain curves of the Vascomax® C250 steel in compression were also computed and then compared with the previously obtained true tensile stress-strain curves at the same strain rates. The Vascomax® C250 steel exhibited a reasonable symmetry in dynamic compression and tensile stress-strain response. However, the fracture strains in dynamic compression were smaller than those in dynamic tension probably due to different fracture mechanisms in the different loading modes.
Silicone foams have been used in a variety of applications from gaskets to cushioning pads over a wide range of environments. Particularly, silicone foams are used as a shock mitigation material for shock and vibration applications. Understanding the shock mitigation response, particularly in the frequency domain, is critical for optimal designs to protect internal devices and components more effectively and efficiently. The silicone foams may be subjected to pre-strains during the assembly process which may consequently influence the frequency response with respect to shock mitigation performance. A Kolsky compression bar was modified with pre-compression capabilities to characterize the shock mitigation response of silicone foam in the frequency domain to determine the effect of pre-strain. A silicone sample was also intentionally subjected to repeated pre-strain and dynamic loadings to explore the effect of repeated loading on the frequency response of shock mitigation.