Constitutive modeling using the Taylor impact test

The Taylor test can be conveniently divided into three fairly distinct stages: (1) initial transient behavior after impact characterized by nonlinear plastic wave propagation. (2) quasi-steady propagation of the plastic wave front. The duration of this stage is a function of specimen caliber and material. (3) terminal transient behavior, during which most of the deceleration of the undeformed section takes place. After the initial transient is complete, which varies with the strain at which the plastic wave front propagates, the motion is well behaved, in the sense that a one-dimensional analysis can be effectively applied. This paper contains such an analysis. Results are supported by an example from which the state of stress for an OFHC copper specimen is deduced.