High velocity impact fracture

An in-depth understanding of dynamic ductile fracture is one of the most important steps to improve the survivability of critical structures such as the lost Twin Towers. In the present thesis, the macroscopic fracture modes and the fracture mechanisms of ductile structural components under high velocity impact are investigated numerically and theoretically. Attention is focused on the formation and propagation of through-thickness cracks, which is difficult to experimentally track down using currently available instruments. Studied are three typical and challenging types of impact problems: (i) rigid mass-to beam impact, (ii) the Taylor test, and (iii) dynamic compression tests on an axisymmetric hat specimen. Using an existing finite element code (ABAQUS/Explicit) implemented with the newly developed Bao-Wierzbicki's (BW) fracture criterion, a number of distinct failure modes including fragmentation, shear plugging, tensile tearing in rigid mass-to-beam impact, confined fracture, petalling, and shear cracking in the Taylor test, are successfully recreated for the first time in the open literature. All of the present predictions are in qualitative agreement with experimental observations.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Ocean Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Teng, Xiaoqing

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Tomasz Wierzbicki.

• Ocean Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32118

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/32118