Metal Forming by Underwater Wire Explosions : 2. Experiments on Bulging of Circular Aluminum Sheets by Copper Wire Explosions

Abstract

Experiments on high speed bulging are presented under various die diameters and sheet thicknesses, and the results are compared with the analytical results of the first report. The final deflections of the sheets can be estimated by the impulse of the pressure pulse measured by Hopkinson pressure bar. The process of the bulging measured by a high speed camera differs from the analytical one; the differences between them are discussed by the theory on wave propagation and reflection. Supplementary experiments on two dimensional bulging of rectangular sheets are made and the effect of the cavitation beneath the sheet on the bulging is examined.