OPTIMIZATION OF HOPKINSON BAR INSTRUMENTATION FOR TESTING OF CELLULAR AND LOW IMPEDANCE MATERIALS

In this paper, an implementation of Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) and its modification Open Hopkinson Pressure Bar (OHPB) for testing of cellular structures is presented. Dynamic testing of materials with low mechanical impedance is very demanding in terms of achieving the requested experimental device performance. Key elements of the Hopkinson bar instrumentation that were successfully employed in dynamic testing of cellular materials are presented in this paper. Detailed overview of the strain-gauges instrumentation including our best practices for installation and noise reduction is provided. Information about the instrumentation of Hopkinson bar with high-speed cameras are also given. To demonstrate the performance of the proposed instrumentation some examples of a typical results are summarized in the text.