Radial Inertia in Non-cylindrical Specimens in a Kolsky Bar

For high-strain rate testing of non-cylindrical specimens using a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar(Kolsky Bar), a correction for radial interia has been developed, based on a first order approximation of stress-variation in the specimen's cross-section. The motivation for such work is the difficulty in machining fragile specimens to an exact cylindrical shape, as is typicallu required in a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar Experminent. The correction term has been shown to be dependant on the geometry of the specimen's cross-section, the Poission's Ratio and the length of the sample chosen, and hasbeen compared to a similar correction factor, previously developed for a Cylindrical specimen. The latter has been found to be a special case of the formula developed here.