Measurement of Critical Impact Velocity of Copper in Tension

Critical impact velocity (CIV) of oxygen-free high-conductivity (OFHC) copper is experimentally measured with a novel facility in a gas gun system. The results are compared with the theoretical predictions using the typical constitutive relations, and the measured CIV value is much lower than the predictions. The difference of physical mechanisms in experiment and in theoretical calculation is discussed. It is suggested that the reduction of CIV in experiment would be related with the damage evolution in tensile copper that needs to be considered in the computation model.