NON-LINEAR FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF DYNAMIC PROBLEMS

A formulation of the displacement based finite element method as well as the incremental analysis procedure which is considered suitable for analysis of non-linear dynamic problems is presented. The presented framework is used to investigate the influence of joint rotation on the failure of steel beam subject to high-speed impact load. The results from the non-linear numerical simulation are compared with those obtained from an analytical technique. Method: The non-linear Full Newton Raphson method was used for the simulation and results obtained were verified analytically using the energy momentum balance technique.Results: The beam suffered an initial vertical downward deflection of 27.7mm from the impactor load as well as a joint rotation of 20. Findings: From the results obtained the beam was considered to have failed due to excessive rotation. Similarly, from the comparism made between the analytical and non-linear numerical simulation results, it was concluded that the full Newton Raphson technique gave accurate results in simulating the dynamic problem which was achieved at an affordable cost.