A Side-Impact Torsion Kolsky Bar

A novel variant of the torsion Kolsky bar which utilizes a side-impact mechanism to achieve a more tractable torsional pulse-shaping technique has been developed. Integration of components from the well-established compression Kolsky bar experimental technique with the torsion Kolsky bar method allows conventional compression techniques to be applied to a torsion experiment. Typical considerations involving striker length, striker velocity, and pulse-shaper geometry, which are used to generate a desired waveform in a compression bar, can be directly applied to the side-impact torsion technique to control pulse length, rotational velocity, and waveform profile. The results from experiments show that the apparatus successfully generates torsional waveforms using conventional pulse shaping techniques.