Performance characteristics of Hopkinson’s set-up pneumatic launcher

The paper presents a performance characteristics of a pneumatic launcher, which is an important element of the split Hopkinson bar set-up (SHPB) at the Department of Military Engineering and Infrastructure (the Military University of Technology in Warsaw) for the purpose of dynamic strength tests of construction materials. The process of experimental calibration of the launcher for selected loading bar-projectiles is shown. Two types of compression during direct impact tests were also used simultaneously to investigate the behaviour of metallic samples with the use of this launcher as well as the Hopkinson measuring bar: the first — a short cylindrical sample, including a miniature (small diameter) sample, and the second — a long cylindrical sample (Taylor test). The relationships describing the stress and strain state as a function of strain rate for the first type of the experiment and engineering empirical formulas for the second type of the research were given