Characterising Dynamic Tensile Mechanical Properties of Automotive Materials at High Strain Rate

This paper investigates the effects of specimen geometry on the measured dynamic mechanical properties of high strength sheet steel derived from high speed tensile testing at 15 m/s on a servo-hydraulic test machine. In this study, stochastic modelling is used extensively to support experimental investigations. From the results, recommendations are proposed in detail, for an improved specimen design and hence test procedure, to support the economic generation of reliable material strain rate sensitivity data for automotive sheet steels at higher strain rates, typically up to 600s^-1. The recommendations proposed are expected to have broader application.