High-Speed Optical Extensometer for Uniaxial Kolsky Bar Experiments

This work studies the implementation of a high-speed linescan camera as a 1D high-speed optical extensometer in gathering strain histories during dynamic strain rate experiments. Aluminum 6061-T6 is tested in tension and compression and recorded using both the high-speed extensometer and a high-speed camera, and the resulting images are analyzed for sample strain and compared to strains found via 1D wave theory calculations. The results show good alignment between the two optical methods with the strain gathered from the wave calculations showing slightly higher strains in both tension and compression.