Role of Stiffeners in Resisting Impact Loads on Steel Plates

B.V.Sampathkumar a, A.Rajaraman b, A.MeherPrasad c

a
Student, IITM, Chennai – 600 036, India. sampath@iitm.ac.in
b
Visiting Professor, IITM, Chennai – 600 036, India. arraman_2000@yahoo.com
c
Professor, IITM, Chennai – 600 036, India. prasadam@civil.iitm.ernet.in

ABSTRACT

Impact loads are increasingly becoming important with man-made attempts at demolition of structures
are on the rise. The focus of the current paper is to assess the role of stiffeners and their location in
resisting impact loads. As impact loads are short term high amplitude phenomena, damages occur
depending on the impulse and in the first part of the paper this aspect is brought by classifying
damages into three types. Later stiffeners are introduced one way and later both ways to focus on their
role in dissipating energy to limit damages to specific areas. The paper is concluded with a design
recommendation for isolating damages due to impact loads through the proper use of stiffeners.

1 INTRODUCTION
Role of impact on structural response is becoming increasingly a hot topic for research as recent man-
made attacks on structures are mostly of short-duration high-amplitude type. These impulse loads are
so planned that complete destruction of segments of structural systems results leaving a trail of loss of
men, material and life-line utilities. Hence a revised look at response to impact loads in terms of
damage and resistance is needed and the focus of the paper here is on the role of stiffeners in resisting
impact loads.
Normal distinction between dynamic and impact loads is made in terms of load-time curves where
three types can be identified as a) impact, b) impact-dynamic and c) dynamic depending on amplitude
and duration. Hence it is always preferable to mention the time non-dimensionally using the
fundamental period of the structure making it structure dependent. But even this sometimes leads to
anomalies as in the case of a beam with different boundary conditions. Hence there is a necessity to
perform numerical and computer simulation of the impact dynamics and here the famous finite
element technique lends itself as a powerful tool since both domain and mathematical discritisation are
possible.

2 STUDIES OF IMPACT AND EXPLOSION

Impact and impact related problems have been an area of considerable research for decades[1, 2] and
substantial effort has been invested in order to physically understand and mathematically describe the
phenomenon, taking place during ordinance ballistic penetration [3]. So far, considerable progress has
been made with experimental investigation of perforation of metal plates, and a large number of
studies can be found in the literature [4, 5]. However, due to the complexity and costs related to
ballistic experiments it is not optimal to base all impact and explosion related studies on laboratory
tests alone. Therefore, a general solution technique is requested as a supplement to high- precision
testing in order to reduce the experimental needs to a minimum. One such tool to analyze these types
of problems is the use of finite element modelling. Much research has been done on the use of non-
linear, large – deformation explicit finite element analysis (FEA). This technique has been used to
solve many practical and important applications, which range from simple, small models (a few
thousand elements) to complex, large models (hundreds of thousand of elements).
3 SIMULATION OF IMPACT AND EXPLOSION
Most dynamic FEA models for impact and explosion require a 6-step set-up procedure (pre-process)
1- Modelling
2- Material
3- Element property
4- Contact
5- Boundary effects
6- Termination time

3.1 Modelling
Finite element modelling of the spatial domain has to represent the geometry of the structure and to
capture the structural response characteristics anticipated in the response. For the problem considered,
the structural response involves the penetration of the impactor through the target plate. The contact
interaction event now involves more than just the normal face of the impactor. The influence of the
sliding contact along the bounding surfaces of the impactor as it penetrates the plate affects the results.
As the contact interaction between the impactor and the target plate increases, the importance of the
selection of simulation parameters also increases and penetration. The simulation model involves three
components:
1. Impactor,
2. Target plate and
3. Stiffeners.

3.2 Impactor
The impactor, shown in the Fig. 1, is modelled using eight node brick elements with a rigid material
model and given an initial velocity in the longitudinal direction. The impactor is positioned, which is
initially at rest, at the centre of the target plate. The impactor is made of hardened steel with rigid
properties. The impactor is cylindrical in shape with blunt end. The mechanical properties of impactor
are:
Diameter of impactor: 0.20 m
Length of Impactor: 0.75 m
Mass of the impactor: 182.15 kg
Total numbers of solid elements, roughly of size (0.05 m long, 0.15 m thick and 0.025 m wide) with
tapered edges, for impactor are 1080 with contact area of 0.0314 m2.

Fig.1 Impactor model

3.2 Target Plate
The plate is modelled using 4-noded shell element with elastic plastic strain hardening material. The
size of the plate is (2 m x 2 m) with total 900 elements, each having one gauss integration points
through the thickness.

Fig. 2 Stiffener type

3.3 Stiffeners
Flat bar stiffeners are used with 4-noded shell element. Stiffeners are modelled as shown in Fig. 2.
Two types of stiffeners are used, viz. one-way and two way, spaced at “s” distance apart. The
coincident nodes between plate and the stiffeners are merged so as to have material integrity. The size
of the each flat bar stiffener used is (100 mm X 15 mm) with 120 elements each.

4 STUDIES ON TYPES OF PLATE

Three types of plates are considered with 15 mm thickness.
1. Un-stiffened plate
2. One-way stiffened plate
3. Two-way stiffened plate
For stiffened plates, stiffeners influence not only the displacement, but also the force transfer path. The
contribution of stiffeners depends on the relative stiffness between the stiffener and the plate, the
boundary conditions, and loading level. Impact load is mainly transferred from the plate to stiffeners
and from stiffeners to the support structures. Although higher stiffness stiffeners reduce the deflection
of the panel, they also result in higher shear forces being transferred to the support structures, which
may render them vulnerable to buckling. Stiffened panels which are generally used in the structural
systems subjected to impact load, ensures that the membrane forces developed due to large
displacements do not produce reactions which could cause failure of already highly stressed primary
structures.
For the present study flat bar stiffeners of size (100 mm deep by 15mm thick) are adopted. Time
history plot for the strain energy is plotted in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 for 15 and 30 mm plate thickness
respectively, for the velocity of impactor equal to 645 m/s. It is found that the energy absorbed by the
un-stiffened plate is of lower order than that for the stiffened plate. However, energy absorbed by the
one-way and two-way stiffened plate is almost of equal magnitude for the two thickness of the plate
considered. Time history plot for the kinetic energy of the plate is presented in Fig. 5. Kinetic energy
rises until the end of the impact load and then starts decreasing.. The plate absorbs all the input energy
as it undergoes deformation and rupture. Fig. 5 also shows the variation of kinetic energy for different
types of plates considered.
Fig.3 Variation of SE of different types of plates for V = 645 m/s and d=15 mm.

Fig.4 Variation of SE of plates for V = 645 m/s and d=30 mm.

Fig.5 Variation of KE of plate for V = 645 m/s and d = 15 mm

A comparison of the deformation for three types of plates considered is given in Fig. 6. The maximum
deformation for the un-stiffened plate increases monotonically and reaches a peak value around 8 to 10
millisec. Whereas for the one-way stiffened plate of same size, peak displacement occurs much before
this time and is of lower magnitude. The peak displacement is further reduced for the two-way
stiffened plate. This represent that the damage becomes more and more localised due to stiffening of
the plate.

Fig.6 Plot of deformation vs. time for V=645 m/s and d = 15 mm

Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 shows the von-Mises stress fringe patterns for one-way stiffened and two-way
stiffened plate respectively. It can be noticed that the damage is confined within the stiffener area as
against the one-way stiffened plate where the stresses flow along the stiffeners direction.

Fig.7 Von-Mises stress fringe patterns for one-way stiffened plate

 Fig.8 Von-Mises stress fringe patterns for two-way stiffened plate

5 CONCLUSIONS
Role of impact dynamics on plate configurations is discussed and models are generated to study the
effects of a typical impactor on a plate mainly with respect to nonlinear behaviour and type of failure
patterns. Three types of failure are identified and the influence of different parameters like velocity of
attack, angle of attack, boundary conditions and types of stiffener on the types of failure is indicated.
Role of explosion after impact is also modelled to give an idea of the change in failure pattern of the
plate. Typical contours of stresses indicate the performance of the plates explicitly giving an idea of
the role of impact dynamics, different from conventional dynamics.

REFERENCES
[1]. Jones, Norman, 1989, STRUCTURAL IMPACT, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
[2]. Biggs J. M., 1964, Introduction to Structural Dynamics. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New
York.
[3]. Bangash M. Y. H., 1993, IMPACT AND EXPLOSION, Analysis and Design, Oxford: Blackwell
Scientific Publication.
[4]. Norman F. Knight Jr., 2000, Penetration simulation for uncontained engine debris impact on
fuselage-like panels using LS-DYNA. Finite Elements in Analysis and Design, Vol. 36, pp. 99-133.
[5]. Damodar R. Ambur, 2001, Numerical simulations for high-energy impact of thin plates. Int J
Impact Engg., Vol. 25, pp. 683-702.