Fluid-structure interaction effects during the dynamic response of clamped thin steel plates exposed to blast loading

This work presents results from a numerical investigation on the influence of fluid-structure interaction (FSI) on the dynamic response of thin steel plates subjected to blast loading. The loading was generated by a shock tube test facility designed to expose structures to blast-like loading conditions. The steel plates had an exposed area of 0.3 m x 0.3 m, and experienced large deformations during the tests. Numerical simulations were performed using the finite element code EUROPLEXUS. An uncoupled FSI approach was compared to a coupled FSI approach in an attempt to investigate FSI effects. It was observed reduced deformation in the plates due to the FSI occurring during the dynamic response. The general trend was that the FSI effect increased with the blast intensity. The numerical results were finally compared to the experimental data, in terms of deflections and velocities in the steel plates, to validate their reliability. It was found a good agreement with the experimental data, and that the numerical simulations were able to predict both the dynamic response of the plate and the pressure distribution in front of the plate with good accuracy. Hence, the numerical framework presented herein could be used to obtain more insight to the underlying physics observed in the experiments. The clear conclusion from this study is that FSI may be utilized to mitigate the blast load acting on a flexible, ductile plated structure, resulting in reduced deformations.

AUNE Vegard;  VALSAMOS Georgios;  CASADEI Folco;  LANGSETH M.;  BORVIK T.; 

2021-01-12

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

JRC122650

0020-7403 (online),   

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0020740320343666?via%3Dihub#sec0011,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC122650,   

10.1016/j.ijmecsci.2020.106263 (online),