Analysis of testing at high strain rates using FEM

Abstract

The use of composite materials in aviation is increasing every year. They offer huge advantages in terms of performance and weight with respect to more common materials such as aluminum. However, the sector of aviation is both very conservative and progressive at the same time. They invest a lot of time and money in developing new, more efficient ways of operating, but also take a lot of time to introduce these improvements into the market. This is, of course, due to safety reasons. A fatal error taking place during flight can be catastrophic. For this reason it is important to perform thorough tests in new materials introduced. The simulation using a FEM software of a SHPB experiment is a great way of testing the materials at the high strain rates it could encounter during operation. Therefore, seeing that the proposed material passes the test satisfactorily, its introduction into the industry can be approved. The validation of these experiments using FEM software is reached when the results obtained match the characteristics of the materials tested, which are already known. This has great value for the industry as these simulations allow to test a wide variety of materials in many different configurations and could help reduce time and cost.