Simulation of nonlinear dynamics of liquid filled fuel tanker shell structure subjected to rollover collision with validation

The transport of hazardous materials in truck cargo tanks can cause severe environmental damage as a result of the tank's failure during a collision. Impact due to collision involves the transient dynamic response of the tank , fluid and their interaction. This paper develops a design oriented comput ational approach to predict the dynamic transient response of the tank shel l structure subjected to impact loads during crash accidents. In order to c ompute the fluid and structural interaction, the finite element formulation s for the added mass to the structure are developed and integrated with DYN A3D, a nonlinear dynamic structural finite element code, and they are valid ated bq pendulum impact experiment. This paper presents the lumping process required by the added mass approach for cargo tanks under impact condition s. Thus, due to its efficiency the computer based approach provides a desig n tool for fluid filled thin walled structures in general and cargo tanks s ubjected to an impact situation. The structural performance of cargo tank s hell construction is investigated. This research will contribute to improve ment in design, modeling, and analysis techniques for crashworthiness and i ntegrity of liquid mechanical structure systems which are subjected to impu lsive loads like those found in vehicle collisions.