Effect of the grain size on the macroscopic response of aluminum to shock loading

Shock tests of two lots of a 1420 aluminum-lithium alloy are performed. The mean grain size is 24 $\mu$m in the first lot and 1.6 $\mu$m in the second lot obtained by the method of equal-channel angular pressing. Two characteristics of dynamic strength of the material were determined in experiments on the high-velocity impact of flat samples: threshold of dynamic stability with respect to compression on the fore front of the compression pulse and spall strength of the material. The materials of both types have an identical threshold of dynamic stability with respect to compression, whereas the spall strength of the microcrystalline alloy is 20% greater than the spall strength of the polycrystalline alloy. The reason is the consumption of energy on structure formation in the coarse-grain material in passing to a larger-scale structural level (in the case with a fine-grain material, such a structure is available in the initial state). The experiments reveal the presence of a second plastic front whose amplitude is approximately 10% of the first plastic front.