Application of high-strain-rate material testing to the study of soft-body impact

The design of titanium fan blades exposed to soft body impact relies on the mathematical modelling of the structural response for which a knowledge of the material is necessary. The difficulties of producing an accurate constitutive relation for a high strength titanium alloy are described. It is shown that a very simple constitutive relation is adequate for modelling the early stages of the impact response. This is found to be sufficient for the purpose of design since catastrophic failure as opposed to large scale deformation occurs shortly after impact