Temperature increase associated with plastic deformation under dynamic compression: Application to aluminium alloy Al 6082

The temperature increase associated with plastic deformation of a material under loading may be measured using several techniques such as infrared thermography (IRT). The present work investigates the temperature increase at different high strain rates and initial test temperatures, using an aluminium alloy Al 6082. A Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) was applied to induce high strain rates to the material and an infrared camera was used to measure the temperature increase. Numerical simulations of dynamic tests were performed to calculate the temperature increase and to gain a better understanding of the process by local measurements. Thus, a detailed finite-elements model was developed to simulate the dynamic compression test. The fraction of plastic work converted into heat was estimated using the Zehnder model. Numerical results in terms of the strain rate and initial temperature effect on the material temperature increase are reported and compared with experiments.