Pressure-shear plate impact experiments of magnesium at high pressures

Magnesium and its alloys are widely used in the aerospace, automotive and defense industries, taking advantage of its high strength to weight ratio. However, these materials show strong anisotropy with its hexagonal close packed structure and texture. The experimental investigations probing the behavior of these materials at high pressures and strain rates are limited. In this study, experiments are conducted on extruded commercially pure magnesium using pressure shear plate impact (PSPI) experiments. The strength and the behavior of the materials are measured at pressures up to 10.5 GPa and strain rates of 105 s−1. The PSPI experiments measure the materials under unique conditions, loading the material simultaneously in two directions. Experiments are conducted at two different pressures where the normal compressive stresses are aligned in one direction and the shear stresses, probing the material strength, are aligned perpendicular to the direction of the normal stress. The effect of pressure on the behavior of these materials under high pressures and strain rates are discussed. It was seen that magnesium exhibit higher strength at higher pressures due to the pressure hardening.