3Dutton Simulation

In conventional high velocity servo hydraulic testing systems, the strain rate effect we seek to measure in a material by testing specimens in tension is error prone, because it often drowned by inertia and noises arising from the machine testing and measurement system. This problem is acute in the industry. A new high velocity servo hydraulic test machine equipped with new gripping technology and an improved measurement system, which has a potential to reduce system error on the measured properties, was procured for this research. A preliminary step has been to establish the capability of this new test machine with the aim of minimizing system error. This paper describes this task in which the essential features of the test machine, specimen and system of measurement are modelled using finite element analysis and validated with experimental data. The purpose of the model is to gain an improved understanding of the physics involved in high speed tensile testing at 15 m/s, especially to identify the main sources of large error, and effective countermeasures as a pre-requisite to designing such tests