High strain rate behavior of magnesium alloys AZ 31B under dynamic tensile loading

Abstract

Magnesium alloy has been widely used nowadays especially in the automotive and aerospace industry due to its high specific strength with lower density, two third the density of aluminum alloy. A research has been conducted that by using magnesium alloy instead of aluminum alloy or stainless steel can help reduce the fuel emission which is one of the major problems faced by these industries.

A lot of studies have been done to study the mechanical behavior of magnesium alloy in quasi-static condition but not many studies have been done in dynamic loading condition. Thus, this project aims to study the mechanical behavior of magnesium alloy under dynamic loading. The equipment that will be used in this project is Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar, simple and convenient equipment which is very suitable for this project.

Before conducting magnesium testing, calibration testing will be conducted first. The specimen used for the calibration testing is aluminum alloy AL6061-T6. The purpose is to ensure that the methods used in this project is up to the standard level by comparing the results with previous results on AL6061-T6 that has been published.

For magnesium testing itself, magnesium alloy AZ31B will be used. The specimen itself will be divided into two based on its direction, namely rolling direction and transverse direction. The mechanical behavior of magnesium alloy AZ31B in both of these directions will be investigated and compared in this project.