Shock Compression Response of a Single-Crystal Austenitic Stainless Steel

Austenitic stainless steels are easily machined and exhibit high strength and corrosion resistance, making them ideal materials for a large variety of engineering applications. Mesoscale models of polycrystalline austenitic stainless steels require knowledge of the orientation-dependent properties of the constituent grains. In this work, we provide preliminary dynamic material property results from shock compression experiments of a single-crystal austenitic stainless steel (FeCr18Ni12.5). Samples oriented in the [100], [110], and [111] directions were compressed to peak stresses up to 12 GPa via plate impact using the single-stage air gun at the Shock Thermodynamics and Applied Research (STAR) facility at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). Free surface velocity measurements provided by photonic Doppler velocimetry (PDV) and the velocity interferometry system for any reflector (VISAR) were used to compare the Hugoniot, Hugoniot elastic limit, and spall strength along the three principal crystallographic directions.