Effects of geometrical and physical parameters on axial impact buckling behaviour of elastic–plastic cylindrical shells

Abstract

The buckling behaviour and collapse mechanism of elastic–plastic cylindrical shells subjected to longitudinal impact were studied by impact experiments and computer simulations. Attention was focused on the influence of the geometry and material property of the shell and loading condition on dynamic buckling response. Varieties of bucking models and the switching between the modes in buckling process were observed. Particularly, the phenomenon of so called dynamic plastic buckling in relatively low impact velocity was captured by high speed photograph in impact test of cooper specimen. This experimentally confirms that the dynamic plastic buckling does not necessarily require high impact velocity. The whole process of impact buckling was simulated by LS‐DYNA code. The effects of the stress wave and the transverse inertia and plastic hardening modulus, etc. on initiation of wrinkle in earlier phase of buckling are analysed.

Keywords:

• Cylindrical shell
• Axial impact
• Dynamic buckling
• Modes switching
• Stress wave effect

The research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 10772129).