The constitutive response and failure behavior of a W-Ni-Fe alloy over the strain rate range of 10-4 to 5 X 105 s-1 is experimentally investigated. Experiments conducted are pressure-shear plate impact, torsional Kolsky bar, and quasi-static torsion. The material has a microstructure of hard tungsten grains embedded in a soft alloy matrix. Nominal shear stress-strain relations are obtained for deformations throughout the experiments and until after the initiation of localization. Shear bands form when the plastic strain becomes sufficiently large, involving both the grains and the matrix. The critical shear strain for shear band development under the high rate, high pressure conditions of pressure-shear is approximately 1–1.5 or 6–8 times that obtained in torsional Kolsky bar experiments which involve lower strain rates and zero pressure. Shear bands observed in the impact experiments show significantly more intensely localized deformation. Eventual failure through the shear band is a combination of grain-matrix separation, ductile matrix rupture, and grain fracture. In order to understand the effect of the composite microstructure and material inhomogeneity on deformation, two other materials are also used in the study. One is a pure tungsten and the other is an alloy of W, Ni, and Fe with the same composition as that of the matrix phase in the overall composite. The results show that the overall two-phase composite is more susceptible to the formation of shear bands than either of its constituents.
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