Shock induced mechanical response of a gamma-TiAl alloy

Plate impact experiments have been performed on samples of the gamma -titanium alloy, Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb-1B to determine its mechanical response during shock loading. This alloy displays pronounced precursor decay. Comparison with the findings of a previous investigation on a similar material shows that the variation in the Hugoniot Elastic Limit can be explained in terms of the microstructure. The Hugoniot has also been determined, and stress, shock, and particle velocity have been measured as independent variables. The difference of these data from those of a similar intermetallic alloy have been explained in terms of the microstructure. It has been observed that the measured Hugoniot (in stress-particle velocity space) lies above that calculated from the measured shock velocities. We believe that this is due to the high degree of work hardening that this type of intermetallic alloy displays. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.