High density Al-W granular/porous composites were fabricated using Cold Isostatic Pressing (CIPing) and CIPing with subsequent Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIPing) with vacuum encapsulation. All samples had an identical weight ratio of Al and W components but different porosities due to different processing procedures. Their quasistatic and dynamic strength and fracture behavior were investigated at strain rate about 10 -3 1/s and 300 1/s, respectively. Sizes of W and Al particles, bonding between Al particles and morphology of W inclusions had a strong effect on dynamic strength and shear instability of the investigated granular composites.

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Thick-walled cylinders constructed from alternating concentric layers of Ni and Al foils were explosively collapsed. The prevalent mode of the high strain, high strain rate plastic deformation was the cooperative buckling of the foils originating in the interior layers. This phenomenon was reproduced in numerical simulations. Its mechanism is qualitatively different than that of shear localization seen in all previously investigated homogeneous solid and granular materials and from the independent buckling of single thin-walled cylinders. Localized chemical reactions were observed in the apex areas of the Ni foils, consistent with the localization of temperature due to high strain plastic deformation.

Abstract. Dynamic behavior of particulate/porous energetic materials in a broad range of dynamic conditions (low velocity impact and explosively driven expansion of rings) is discussed. Samples of these materials were fabricated using Cold Isostatic Pressing and Hot Isostatic Pressing with and without vacuum encapsulation. The current interest in these materials is due to the combination of their high strength and output of energy under critical conditions of mechanical deformation. They may exhibit high compressive and tensile strength with the ability to undergo bulk distributed fracture resulting in small size reactive fragments. The mechanical properties of these materials and the fragment sizes produced by fracturing are highly sensitive to mesostructure. For example, the dynamic strength of Al-W composites with fine W particles is significantly larger than the strength of composites with coarse W particles at the same porosity. The morphology of W inclusions had a strong effect on the dynamic strength and fracture pattern. Experimental results are compared with numerical data.

Dynamic experiments with Al-W granular/porous composites revealed qualitatively different behavior with respect to shear localization depending on bonding between Al particles. Two-dimensional numerical modeling was used to explore the mesomechanics of the large strain dynamic deformation in Al-W granular/porous composites and explain the experimentally observed differences in shear localization between composites with various mesostructures. Specifically, the bonding between the Al particles, the porosity, the roles of the relative particle sizes of Al and W, the arrangements of the W particles, and the material properties of Al were investigated using numerical calculations. It was demonstrated in simulations that the bonding between the soft Al particles facilitated shear localization as seen in the experiments. Numerical calculations and experiments revealed that the mechanism of the shear localization in granular composites is mainly due to the local high strain flow of soft Al around the rigid W particles causing localized damage accumulation and subsequent growth of the meso/macro shear bands/cracks. The rigid W particles were the major geometrical factor determining the initiation and propagation of kinked shear bands in the matrix of soft Al particles, leaving some areas free of extensive plastic deformation as observed in experiments and numerical calculations.

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Explosively driven fragmentation mechanisms of Al-W particulate composite rings were investigated. The effect of mesostructure (particulate Al and W, particulate Al and W fibers) and bonding between Al particles (processing via cold isostatic and cold isostatic + hot isostatic pressing) were determined. The kinematics of the expansion process was monitored using Photon Doppler Velocimetry measurements of the velocity of the outer surface of the rings. Numerical simulations of the expansion velocity of rings were in agreement with experimental data. The agglomerated fragments larger than sizes of initial Al particles were observed in