Miniature-Hopkinson bar technique

A miniature-Hopkinson bar technique, which was used to measure the mechanical behavior of materials at high strain rates, was proposed. For some metals, the strain rate can exceed 10⁴ s^-1. The validation of this technique was proven by using laser occlusive radius detector (LORD), and by comparing tests with conventional Hopkinson bar technique. The results show that the strains measured by miniature Hopkinson bar technique have a good agreemant with the strains obtained with LORD. Over the low strain rate ranges, the flow stresses are consistent with that of conventional Hopkinson bar. The miniature Hopkinson bar can be utilized to measure the dynamic behavior of materials at the strain rate beyond 10⁴ s^-1.