Dynamic response of two strain-hardened aluminum alloys

Despite their common usage in armor applications such as lightweight armored vehicles, the dynamic material response of 5083-H131 and 5083-H32 strain-hardened aluminum alloys has not been previously reported in the open literature. Measurement of the dynamic material properties, including the shock Hugoniot equation of state (EOS), provides hydrocode modelers with critical information required for accurate modeling of material response to intense loading. In the work reported here we investigate the Hugoniot EOS and Hugoniot elastic limit over the stress range of 1.5-8.0 GPa. All experiments were performed on the Army Research Laboratory 102 mm bore single-stage light gas gun. Impact conditions were uniaxial and planar to within 1 mrad of tilt. Both direct-impact- and shock-transmission-type experiments were performed using velocity interferometry diagnostics to record particle velocity histories with 0.5 ns temporal resolution. The shock Hugoniot for 5083-H131 is extrapolated to 50 GPa and compared to the previous high pressure results of Hauver and Melani (1973) [Ballistic Research Laboratory December Technical Report No. BRL 2345, 1973] and to prior shock studies of 5083-O aluminum alloy. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.