A Pulse-Heated Kolsky Bar Technique for Measuring Flow Stress of Metals at High Loading and Heating Rates

Published

April 5, 2008

Author(s)

Steven P. Mates, Richard L. Rhorer, Eric P. Whitenton, Timothy J. Burns, D Basak

Abstract

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed an electrical pulse-heated Kolsky Bar technique for measuring the constitutive response of metals at heating rates of up to 6000 K/s and strain rates up to 104 1/s. Under these conditions, which are approaching those found in high speed machining, thermally-activated microstructural processes such as grain growth, solid state phase transformation and dislocation annealing can be bypassed, leading to unique non-equilibrium superheated microstructural states. Flow stresses can thus differ significantly from equilibrium high temperature conditions. This paper describes the NIST pulse-heated Kolsky bar technique in detail, including a thorough assessment of uncertainties in temperature and flow stress measurement.

Citation

Experimental Mechanics

Volume

48

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

DOI Link

Keywords

flow stress measurement, high strain rate, Kolsky Bar, pulse heating

Citation

Mates, S. , Rhorer, R. , Whitenton, E. , Burns, T. and Basak, D. (2008), A Pulse-Heated Kolsky Bar Technique for Measuring Flow Stress of Metals at High Loading and Heating Rates, Experimental Mechanics, [online], https://doi.org/10.1007/s11340-008-9137-1 (Accessed October 27, 2025)