A Long Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (LSHPB) for Intermediate-rate Characterization of Soft Materials

In this study, we developed a long split Hopkinson pressure bar (LSHPB) for mechanically characterizing soft materials at intermediate strain rates. Using a proper pulse shaper, a loading pulse over 3 ms was produced for compression experiments on a PMDI foam material at the strain rates in the order of 10/s. The pulse shaping technique minimized the dispersion effects of stress wave when propagating through such a long bar system. Consistency of stress-strain curves obtained from the LSHPB and an MTS in the same strain rate range shows that a gap currently existing in intermediate strain-rate range is closed by the introduction of the LSHPB.