A novel technique for performing symmetric Taylor impact

Abstract

Abstract.A novel spring tensioned wire cradle arrangement has been developed to hold the target rod lightly but firmly in place when performing rod-on-rod (symmetric Taylor) impact in a vacuum. In addition, a soft capture system has been designed and used to decelerate both rods while reducing the chance of them colliding a second time. High-speed photography was used to obtain the profile of a pure aluminium target rod as a function of time. Photon Doppler Velocimetry (PDV) was also deployed to record the velocity of the rear of the target rod as a function of time. Voiding in the interior of recovered rods was investigated non-destructively using X-ray tomography. The data provides comprehensive validation information for predictive constitutive models.

Contributions to Dynamic Behaviour of Materials Professor John Edwin Field, FRS 1936–2020

“…From around the mid-1990s, John Field's group was equipped with the techniques that Stephen was to use until his retirement in 2014, namely light gas guns, the glass-anvil drop-weight, split Hopkinson pressure bars and high-speed cameras. This led to Stephen publishing a series of research papers with John on topics as diverse as the impact ignition of propellants and PBXs [68,69], explosive powders [70,71] and the high rate properties of metals investigated using Taylor impact [72][73][74] and split Hopkinson pressure bars [75].…”