Ductility of selected metals under electromagnetic ring test loading conditions

Experimental studies on ductility of selected metals differing mechanical properties under strain rates between 4 × 103 and 2 × 104 s−1 are presented in this work. The electromagnetic expanding ring experiment was used as the primary tool for examining the ductility behaviour of metals. Through a use of the Phantom v12 digital high-speed camera and specialised TEMA Automotive software, rings expansion velocities were determined with satisfactory accuracy for all ring tests. In this paper, the experimental observations on cold-rolled copper Cu-ETP, aluminium alloy Al 7075, barrel steel and tungsten heavy alloy are reported. Ductility of studied materials was estimated by measuring changes in cross-sectional areas in the uniform strain portions of the recovered ring fragments. In a similar way the metals ductility was defined at the conventional tensile test condition. Moreover, results of analogue investigation for static and dynamic loading at the temperature of about −40 °C were described. The experimental observations mainly revealed the different ductility behaviour of metals tested at applied dynamic loadings; Cu-ETP and barrel steel demonstrated an increase in ductility, whereas aluminium alloy Al 7075 and tungsten heavy alloy were characterised by lower ductility in comparison to static loading. These results appear to be partially in contrast with the observations reported recently by some other investigators.