A design of inverse Taylor projectiles using material simulation

The classic Taylor cylinder test, in which a right circular cylinder is projected at a rigid anvil, exploits the inertia of the projectile to access strain rates that are difficult to achieve with more traditional uniaxial testing methods. In this work we present our efforts to design inverse Taylor projectiles, in which a tapered projectile becomes a right circular cylinder after impact, from annealed copper and show that the self-correcting geometry leads to a uniform compressive strain in the radial direction. We design projectiles using finite element simulation and optimization that deform as desired in tests with minor deviations in the deformed geometry due to manufacturing error and uncertainty in the initial velocity. The inverse Taylor projectiles designed in this manner provide a simple means of validating constitutive models. This work is a step towards developing a general method of designing Taylor projectiles that provide stress-strain behavior relevant to particular engineering problems.