Investigation on the influence of compact tensile specimen thickness on the dynamic fracture properties

Based on the split Hopkinson tensile bar (SHTP) test method, the fracture behavior of the 2A12-T4 aluminum alloy compact tensile (CT) specimens has been investigated using experimental-simulation combination method in this paper. Upon validating the numerical approach by comparing with experimental results, the influence of specimen thickness has been analyzed. It is found that the J-integral curves are increasing exponentially with time, and specimens of different thickness have similar variation laws. With the increase of thickness, the dominant factor changes from plane stress area to plane strain area, and the J-integral value first increases and then decreases to a constant value at last. The percentage of plane strain area in the total thickness has been derived.

Automated summary

Using the experimental-simulation combination method based on the split Hopkinson tensile bar test, the fracture behavior of 2A12-T4 aluminum alloy compact tensile specimens was investigated in this study. By comparing with experimental results, the numerical approach was validated, and the influence of specimen thickness was analyzed. It was found that the J-integral curves increase exponentially with time, and specimens of different thickness exhibit similar variation patterns. With increasing thickness, the dominant factor changes from the plane stress area to the plane strain area, and the J-integral value first increases and then decreases to a constant value. The percentage of the plane strain area in the total thickness was derived.