RR303 - Dynamic tensile properties of thin sheet materials
The European Structural Integrity Society (ESIS) has organised a cross European test programme involving ten laboratories to assess test techniques for dynamic tensile testing. The results of this work will be used to develop a European standard for dynamic tensile testing and data analysis. The Health and Safety Laboratory has been invited to contribute to this project. The production of dynamic properties of materials is particular important in the modelling of railway vehicles to improve their crashworthiness. Due to the implications to health and safety, the work was sponsored by Railway Inspectorate Technical Division and funded by the Health and Safety Executive. This report outlines the experimental work carried out to determine the dynamic tensile properties of six materials. Five of the materials were supplied by ESIS and the other was sourced from an extruded beam taken from a carriage involved in the Ladbroke Grove incident. Tests were carried out at pseudo static, 40 and 400 strain rates giving a reasonable spread of data. To enable the capture of data at these strain rates a high-speed data logger was used along with a linescan camera to measure specimen elongation. Test specimens were manufactured to a design developed by HSL, along with the test apparatus and technique used. This report and the work it describes were funded by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Its contents, including any opinions and/or conclusions expressed, are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect HSE policy.
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