Structurae

The mechanics of large deformation and failure of thin-walled structures and consequent dissipation of kinetic energy has been receiving considerable attention from several investigators, mainly motivated by the considerations of designing for structural crashworthiness and safety in the event of impact or blast loading. Analysis of such phenomena is made difficult by uncertainties in loading as well as the effects of various parameters such as strain rate, inertia, history of loading, annealing and thermal processes and geometry. In this paper I shall share some of the results of large deformation studies on various thin-walled structures of varying geometry and size or plates with various boundary conditions, subjected to the impact of drop hammer or projectiles with different features and blast loading. The resulting collapse modes and how they are influenced by various parameters such as annealing and heat treatment, geometry, discontinuities, non-uniformity in thickness and boundary conditions are discussed.