NUMERICAL-SIMULATION OF IMPACT LOADED STEEL BEAMS AND THE FAILURE CRITERIA

The experimental results for clamped mild steel beams under impact loa ding reported by Yu and Jones (Yu, J. L. and Jones, N. (1991) Further experimental investigations on the failure of clamped beams under impa ct loads. International Journal of Solids and Structures 27, 1113-1137 ) are simulated numerically using the finite-element code ABAQUS with plane stress elements. General observations are presented, including t he effect of flexural wave propagation during the early stage of motio n and the influence of material strain rate sensitivity and inertia ef fects on the structural response. The critical conditions for the beam s during the response are revealed and various possible failure criter ia are examined and discussed by comparing the experimental and numeri cal results. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.