The flying wedge: a method for high strain-rate tensile testing. Part 3: Test methodology and analysis

The flying wedge is a dynamic tensile testing rig for testing materials over a range of strain rates from 102–104 s−1. This paper describes the procedures for conducting tests at room temperatures on the flying wedge as well as the processing of results. To aid this process, finite element models of the complete experiment as well as detailed models of the specimen subjected to different loading conditions have been developed. Some typical results of the combined experimental and numerical techniques are presented and the numerical fracture model derived from these results is validated.