Analysis of Metallic Materials Behavior during Severe Loadings Using a FE Modeling of the SHPB Test Based on a Numerical Calibration of Elastic Strains with Respect to the Raw Measurements and on the Inverse Analysis Principle

The complex loading paths of non-conventional or rapid forging processes, especially as regards the important gradients of the plastic strain and strain rate characterizing the material deformation, require a reliable knowledge of the rheological constitutive equations. Some recent studies propose adequate phenomenological formulations taking into account the corresponding local physical mechanisms and the sensitivity of the true stress with respect to all mechanical variables. At the same time important scientific efforts have been focused in order to identify correctly all the constitutive law parameters, using adequate mechanical tests and robust numerical tools based generally on the inverse analysis principle. It is known that this new method requires building of a rigorous and adequate experimental space, using data obtained from loading conditions close to the industrial forming process. Then to explore high variations of plastic strain and strain rate, one of the most suitable tests are based on high speed hydraulically press and on the Split Hopkinson Pressure Bars test (SHPB). Consequently this paper propose to improve the experimental data accuracy obtained from the SHPB device by using finite element simulations of the entire high speed mechanical experiment together with the description of the inverse analysis strategy applied in order to analyze the thermo-mechanical constitutive behavior of metallic materials behavior and to identify the corresponding rheological parameters. The first part of this study will be dedicated to a short description of the experimental SHPB test analysis and to the analysis of the measurement data which can be used to describe the real mechanical loadings of the specimen. A new experimental calibration method of the acquisition signals, based on the finite element modeling of the elastic bars deformation during an impact without specimen, will be detailed. Using ABAQUS and CAST3M software, this method is validated from the comparison of the elastic strains variation obtained by the numerical simulations. In a second part will be detailed the inverse analysis strategy together with a real application concerning the rheological behavior of an aluminum alloy using a “dumbbell” specimen during a high speed upsetting test starting from a proposed constitutive relationship. Finally, special “cap” geometries of the material sample will be analyzed during a SHPB compression test in order to understand the feasibility of the proposed method to expand the material constitutive behavior identification to severe loadings. It is then shown the capacity to describe deformation path close to the rapid manufacturing processes and high speed machining.