Assessment of heated reverse Taylor cylinder experiments for the calibration of tantalum strength models.

A series of heated reverse Taylor impact experiments have been undertaken on pure polycrystalline tantalum to investigate the individual and interdependent effects of strain-rate and temperature. Impact velocities and initial temperatures in the ranges 112-185 m/s and 293-954 K were studied. Velocimetry and high-speed imaging were used to record time-resolved deformation of the rods. The data is compared to Lagrangian hydrocode simulations and the performance of three strength models (Steinberg-Guinan, Preston-Tonks-Wallace and the LMS13 multiscale model) are assessed. Overall, the LMS13 model was able to reproduce the deformed rod profile and the velocimetry most accurately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]