Abstract
An aluminum alloy(1) was tested at quasi-static to dynamic strain-rates (from 10(-1) to 5 10(3) s(-1)), using a single measuring device, a modified Split Hopkinson Bar. A wave separation technique [Bussac et al., J Mech Phys Solids 50:321-350, 2002] based on the maximum likelihood method was applied to process the strain and velocity measurements recorded at various points on each bar. With this method, it is possible to compute the stress, strain, displacement and velocity at any point on the bar. Since the measurement time is unlimited, the maximum strain measured in a given specimen no longer decreases with the strain-rate, as occurs with the classical Split Hopkinson Bar method.