8th International Conference on Mehanical and Physical Behaviour of Materials under Dynamic Loading
J. Cirne, R. Dormeval, et al.
J. Phys. IV France 134 (2006) 43-48
DOI: 10.1051/jp4:2006134008

High rate constitutive modeling of aluminium alloy tube

C.P. Salisbury¹, M.J. Worswick¹ and R. Mayer<sup>2

1</sup>  University of Waterloo, Mechanical Engineering Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
²  General Motors Technical Center, Vehicle Analysis & Dynamics Lab., Warren, Michigan, USA

(Published online 26 July 2006)

Abstract
As the need for fuel efficient automobiles increases, car designers are investigating light-weight materials for automotive bodies that will reduce the overall automobile weight. Aluminium alloy tube is a desirable material to use in automotive bodies due to its light weight. However, aluminium suffers from lower formability than steel and its energy absorption ability in a crash event after a forming operation is largely unknown. As part of a larger study on the relationship between crashworthiness and forming processes, constitutive models for 3mm AA5754 aluminium tube were developed. A nominal strain rate of 100/s is often used to characterize overall automobile crash events, whereas strain rates on the order of 1000/s can occur locally. Therefore, tests were performed at quasi-static rates using an Instron test fixture and at strain rates of 500/s to 1500/s using a tensile split Hopkinson bar. High rate testing was then conducted at rates of 500/s, 1000/s and 1500/s at 21C, 150C and 300C. The generated data was then used to determine the constitutive parameters for the Johnson-Cook and Zerilli-Armstrong material models.

© EDP Sciences 2006

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