sub-cases were studied in the inclination error; which were
equivalent to the bar rotation (
a
) in a range of 0.03125e1
(Fig. 2b
and Table 2). In these two cases, the bars were maintained to be in
perfect condition, which were having a straight neutral axis and
perpendicular impact faces. Therefore, these cases were not related
to the quality of bar production. These two cases might occur in the
physical experiment when the bars were not aligned properly.
In the next four cases, the related bar production quality were
studied, i.e. non-parallel impact face, bar straightness, and dome
and cone impact face shapes. Case C studied the effect of non-
parallel impact face by varying the angle of impact face (
b
) from
0.03125 to 1
(Fig. 2c and Table 3). In the physical experiment, this
misalignment might occur if the final finishing (grinding) of the
impact face was not perpendicular to the neutral axis.
Case D (Fig. 2d) studied the effect of bar straightness. This is one
of the most common problems with the bar. It is necessary to
ensure that the neutral axis of the bar is straight enough to satisfy
the requirement of one-dimensional stress wave propagation. The
straightness tolerances (per 1 m length) were varied from 0.251 to
4.372 mm (Table 4).
Cases E and F (Fig. 2e and f) studied the effects of the dome and
cone impact face shapes, respectively. The dome heights and cone
depths were varied from 0.0069 to 0.2217 mm (Table 5 for case E
and Table 6 for case F). These problems might arise when the
impact faces were machined using a lathe without final finishing
using a grinding process.
Based on the way that the two impact faces make contact, the
above six cases can be classified into three groups: I. parallel (case
A), II. non-parallel (cases B, C and D) and III. symmetrically non-
parallel (cases E and F). Numerical simulations were used to
examine the effect of each case and identify the tolerance values for
each case.
3.2. Finite element modeling
Comprehensive numerical simulations (a total of 24 sub-cases)
were conducted to simulate the misalignment effects in the SHPB
technique. This modeling was based on the SHPB in our laboratory.
The diameter of the bar was 12.7 mm, while the length of the
striker bar was 300 mm. The input bar has the same length as the
output bar which was 1000 mm. The bars were made from high
strength steel (AISI 4140). The tensile strength, density, Young’s
modulus and Poisson’s ratio were 850 MPa, 7769 kg/m
3
, 205 GPa
and 0.29, respectively. These data were provided by the supplier.
The numerical simulations were divided into two main sections,
i.e. bar calibration and conventional SHPB testing. The bar calibra-
tion test, which is to determine the strain and stress correction
factors, is the most crucial step prior the real test. The former factor
is determined by impacting the striker bar on the input bar and the
output bar separately (“bar apart”), while the latter factor is
determined by impacting the striker bar on the coupled
inputeoutput bars with no specimen in between (“bars together”).
The shape of the incident and transmitted waves generated from
the “bars together” testing should be similar. Gama et al. [10]
suggested that the parallelism of the bar interfaces should be
checked if these wave shapes were not alike, though no specific
tolerances were given. In the “bar apart” modeling, the “imperfect
bar”, representing each case studied (Cases A.1 to F.6), was
employed as the input bar. Meanwhile, in the “bars together”
modeling, the “imperfect bar” was employed as the output bar.
These arrangements were selected such that the effects of the bar
interfaces parallelism could be studied, as also suggested by Gama
et al. [10].
The conventional SHPB testing was also divided into two sub-
sections, i.e. input and output bar misalignments. In both studies,
a specimen was sandwiched between the input and output bars. In
the first study, the contact surface between the specimen and
output bar was maintained parallel, while the contact surface
between the input bar and specimen depended on the condition of
each case. In the second study, the contact surface between the
input bar and specimen was maintained parallel, while the contact
surface between the specimen and output bar depended on the
condition of each case (vice versa of the first study).
Fig. 3 shows an example of the finite element (FE) modeling
details of “bar apart” testing. This model consists of four parts:
striker bar, input bar, propulsion barrel and O-ring support. An
automatic hexagonal meshing was selected with an element size of
1.5 mm. Our studies [18] showed that the results were insensitive to
the mesh smaller than 1.5 mm.
The sampling rate of the numerical simulations was selected to
be 1
m
s with a time step formula based on the bar wave velocity. A
termination time was selected to be 500
m
s. The constant stress
solid element property was selected for all parts. A fixed support
was selected for propulsion barrel and O-ring support nodes.
In the bar calibration modeling (Section 4.1), two materials, i.e.
elastic (MAT 1.1 for the bars) and rigid (MAT 20.1 for the propulsion
barrel and O-ring support) were employed. The elastic material
model will fail to simulate the real physical experiment at the input
bar impact end for cases E and F. This is due to the fact that the
element at the impact face might be plastically deformed during
the impact of the striker bar. However, the elastic material model
will be valid for the remaining sections of the bar because these
sections will be in an elastic state. Thus, the elastic material model
will also be employed for the numerical simulation parameters in
cases E and F.
Table 2
Case B e uneven support height.
Descriptions Case B.1 Case B.2 Case B.3 Case B.4 Case B.5 Case B.6
Y, mm 0.545 1.091 2.182 4.363 8.727 17.452
Z, mm 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000
Bar rotation (
a
), degree 0.03125 0.0625 0.125 0.25 0.5 1.0
Table 3
Case C e unparallel impact face.
Descriptions Case C.1 Case C.2 Case C.3 Case C.4 Case C.5 Case C.6
Impact end angle
(
b
), degree
0.03125 0.0625 0.125 0.25 0.5 1.0
Table 4
Case D e bar straightness.
Properties Case D.1 Case D.2 Case D.3 Case D.4 Case D.5 Case D.6
Straightness tolerance,
mm (per 1 m)
0.251 0.273 0.547 1.093 2.186 4.372
Equivalent radius of
curvature, m
500 459.28 229.64 114.82 57.41 28.71
Equivalent impact end
angle (
g
), Degree
0.057 0.0625 0.125 0.25 0.5 1.0
M.A. Kariem et al. / International Journal of Impact Engineering 47 (2012) 60e7062