It is known that subrecrystallization plastic deformation increases the strength of a metal. The amount of strengthening that may be acquired can be approximated using a strainhardening equation and a simple given strain. The purpose of this thesis was to determine the effective strain for predicting strainhardening for annealed aluminum subjected to completely reversed strain combinations.

Three test methods were employed to characterize the response of unidirectional Boron/Aluminum metal matrix composite material under monotonic and cyclic loading conditions, namely: Iosipescu Shear, Off-Axis Tension and Compression. The characterization of the elastic and plastic response includes the elastic material properties, yielding and subsequent hardening of the unidirectional composite under different stress ratios in the material principal coordinate system. The elastic response is compared with the prediction of the transformation theory, based on the far field stress ōₓₓ, the Pagano-Halpin Model, and finite element analysis. Yield loci were generated for different stress ratios and were compared for the three different test methods, taking into account residual stresses and specimen geometry. The yield locus for in-plane shear was compared with the prediction of an analytical micromechanical model. The influence of the scatter in the experimental data on the predicted yield surface was also analyzed. Likewise the experimental material strength in tension and compression was compared with the Maximum Stress and the Tsai-Wu failure criterion. / M.S.

Poisson's ratio for aluminum is estimated from velocity profile measurements of a free-free beam under dynamic loading conditions A weighted least-squares method is used to select a beam model which is subsequently used to determine the transverse and anticlastic radii of curvature. The model of the beam velocity profile is selected using forward regression with the possible regressor set formed by products of Legendre polynomials in x and y, the two-dimensional coordinates of the beam. The resulting model is manipulated to extract the transverse and anticlastic radii of curvature of the beam which are then used to find local and global estimates of Poisson's ratio. Estimates for Poisson's ratio are found for three different forcing frequencies and three force amplitudes at each frequency. The frequencies selected correspond to the frequencies of the operating shapes dominated by the first, second, and third bending modes. A statistical analysis is performed to assess the quality of the estimates of Poisson's ratio. Results show that the estimates of Poisson fs ratio are dependent on the forcing frequency and forcing amplitude. All estimates are below the accepted value of .33 for aluminum. Contributions of plate modes adversely affect the estimates. Estimates based on the first and third operating shapes exhibit a lower variance than the estimate based on the second operating shapes. / Master of Science