Plastic deformation of a ring system during intensive collision

Experimental and numerical investigations have been carried out into the dynamic deformation of aluminum ring systems placed in-between two rigid movable masses in this study. The experiments were performed by developing a conventional split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB), but with short bars. A finite element (FE) software ABAQUS was used to simulate collision. Strain histories were tracked by dynamic semiconductor gages and deformation processes were recorded using a high-speed camera. The contact force at the interface between the transmitter bar and ring system was obtained by a deconvolution method. Stress histories at the corresponding points were also given from the FE simulation and compared with the experiment. Major factors which influence the energy distribution of the collision system are discussed. Simplified analytical models were proposed to predict energy absorption ratio and global deformation of the ring system. The analytical results agree well with those from the experiments and numerical simulations.