The Variable Threshold Rod Experiment: A Comparison of Measured and Computed Deformations

Abstract

A novel experiment has been developed to induce inhomogeneous deformations under simple extension boundary conditions. By appropriate prior cold working of stock material and fabrication of test specimens with tailored dimensions, the location of the deformation zones along the gage length of tensile specimens was controlled. By design, the deformations were chosen to concentrate either toward the harder or softer ends of the specimens. The experiment provides a sensitive test to judge the ability of constitutive models to replicate the behavior of metals undergoing inhomogeneous deformation. A comparison of experimental results with simulated response using an isotropic state variable model is presented.