Ce Papers - 2019 - D'Antimo - Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Simply Supported Steel Beams Under Drop Weight

NORDIC STEEL 2019
The 14th Nordic Steel Construction Conference,

September 18–20, 2019, Copenhagen, Denmark
Numerical and experimental investigation of simply supported steel beams

under drop-weight impact tests
Marina D’Antimo*,a, Massimo Latourb , Jean-Pierre Jaspart a, Jean-François Demonceau a
a
University of Liège, ArGEnCo Department, Belgium
m.dantimo@uliege.be, jfdemonceau@uliege.be, jean-pierre.jaspart@uliege.be
b
University of Salerno, Department of Civil Engineering, Italy
mlatour@unisa.it
ABSTRACT
Due to the increase in terroristic attack and catastrophic events, the engineering structures are more
and more likely to be subjected to abnormal loading conditions. Moreover, exceptional and
unpredictable fatalities (extreme wind actions, explosions, car impacts…etc.) could lead to dreadful
consequences, such as the partial or total progressive collapse of the structures. In view of this, it is
required for engineers and researchers to have a better knowledge of all the phenomena associated
to such exceptional loadings on structures.
The behaviour of structures under impact, which is the main topic of the present paper, is a complex
phenomenon and the response of a structure depends on a large number of variables such as the
sensitivity of the materials to high rates of deformation, imperfection of the system, type and
velocity of the impacting body among others.
The present paper presents the behaviour of simply supported beams under impact loads. In
particular, nine drop-weight impact tests have been performed at different level of impact energy.
Within the proposed paper, the experimental impact tests conducted on simply support beams will
be first presented. Then, exploiting the power of FEM analyses performed using the commercial
software Abaqus/CAE© and validated against experimental evidences, different modelling
techniques, along with several material models, are examined and compared. From these results, the
ability of a detailed FE modelling to predict the response of impacted beams, when a proper
modelling of the material behaviour at high rate of deformation is ensured, is discussed and a first
estimation of the dynamic increase factor (DIF) for beam under impact loadings is given.
Keywords: Drop weight test, Impact, Steel beams, FEM modelling
1 INTRODUCTION
Many works in the last years have been devoted to buildings under unconventional and exceptional
loadings like blast, fire and impact (1-7). An “exceptional” event may lead to abnormal damage in
structures, to the propagation of this local failure and, finally, to a progressive collapse. To avoid
this occurrence, engineers need to design structures able to prevent or contain disproportionate
damages. This property of a structural system to redistribute the additional loads avoiding partial or
total progressive collapse is called robustness (8). Since progressive collapse may lead to a dynamic
nonlinear response of a structure, dynamic effect cannot be neglected. The concept of DIF (dynamic
increase factor) represents a simplified way to account for dynamic performing simplify static
analysis and this coefficient is already widely used in literature (9, 10). The knowledge of the
dynamic behaviour of structural elements under dynamic loadings has to be assessed. The aid of a
FE tool can be a valid alternative when extensive experimental campaign are not feasible. When
impact or blast loading are analysed, the mechanical non-linear behaviour and the strain rate
sensitivity of the material can influence the response of the whole system in terms of resistance and
ductility and this aspect cannot be neglected in the modelling. With the goal of developing an
accurate FEM modelling, an experimental campaign of drop weight impact tests on IPE beams is
© 2019 Ernst & Sohn Verlag für Architektur und technische Wissenschaften GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin · ce/papers 3 (2019), Nos. 3 & 4
https://doi.org/10.1002/cepa.11377 wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cepa 803
25097075, 2019, 3-4, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cepa.1137 by INASP/HINARI - PAKISTAN, Wiley Online Library on [25/04/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
804 |
performed. The aim is to investigate the behaviour of simply supported beam and to give a first
approach that can be further extended to other structural elements like joints or more complex
systems. In the present work, the modelling of the strain rate and its influence on the FEM results
are assessed, comparing the experimental evidence with four different material modelling
technique. The proposed material models include two semi-empirical laws, Cowper-Symonds (CS)
and Johnson-Cook (JC), the use of the DIF (dynamic increase factor) given by the American code
(DoD, (11)) and the last model is based on the static material characterization, thus, no strain rate is
considered (NSR) (2). The paper gives an overview on different approach to model impact using the
finite element code ABAQUS and, finally, a prevision of the DIF of beams under impact is
provided.
2 IMPACT TESTS
Nine impact tests on simply supported beams have been performed using a dropping weight impact
system made of two tubular guides and a quick release mechanism to drop the mass (Fig. 1 a). Two
different mass 211kg (M1) and 460kg (M2) were tested and the height of dropping ranged between
250 and 3000 mm in order to play on the level of energy associated to each impact. All the beams
are IPE 220 made of S275 steel. In order to characterize the material properties, several samples,
extracted from the beam flange and web of the beam, have been tested under uniaxial tensile load.
a) b)
Fig. 1. a) Impact layout and b) Camera window, control point and speckle pattern.
Digital image correlation systems (DIC) have been used to track the displacement of numerous
points on the beam during the test, all the results in the following are referred to the point at the
centre of the beam (1C in Fig. 1 b). Each test has been labelled with an alphanumeric code
containing the mass and the dropping height info (ex. ITB01 M1 H250).
2.1 Experimental results

The results in term of displacement of the point 1C in time are given in Fig.2 a-b. Moreover, in
Table 1 are reported: the theoretical and the real velocity (vtheo,imp and vact,imp); the theoretical and
the real energy associated to impact (Etheo,imp and Eact,imp ); the ratio between the theoretical and the
actual velocity; the maximum and the permanent deformation at the end of the test (δmax and δperm).
© Ernst & Sohn Verlag für Architektur und technische Wissenschaften GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin ∙ ce/papers (2019)
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Fig. 2. a) Impact sequence 1 with mass M1; b) Impact sequence 2 with mass M2;
Table 1. Results of impact tests with mass M1 and M2

Impact test h vtheo,imp vact,imp Etheo,imp Eact,imp vtheo,imp/ vact,imp δmax δperm
M1=211 kg [mm] [m/s] [m/s] [J] [J] [-] [mm] [mm]
ITB01 M1 H250 250 2.214 1.640 517.14 283.75 0.74 10.15 0
ITB02 M1 H500 500 3.132 2.720 1034.9 780.53 0.87 13.92 0
ITB03 M1 H500 500 3.132 2.766 1034.9 807.15 0.88 Info lost
ITB04 M1 H1000 1000 4.429 3.836 2069.5 1534.6 0.87 Info lost
-
ITB05 M1 H1000 1000 4.429 3.760 2069.5 1491.5 0.85 19.77 4.76
-
ITB06 M1 H3000 3000 7.622 7.310 6209.68 5637.5 0.96 40.99 25.01
ITB07 M2 H250 250 2.214 2.02 1128.1 938.5 0.91 15.08 0
ITB08 M2 H500 500 3.132 2.6 2256.3 1554.8 0.83 21.74 5.9
ITB09 M2 H1000 1000 4.429 4.09 4512.6 3856.8 0.92 33.14 16.78
3 FINITE ELEMENT MODELLING AND VALIDATION

A 3D Finite element model has been built using ABAQUS/CAE 2017 with the main purpose of
investigating the behaviour of beams under impact loadings. Dynamic implicit analysis is used to
simulate the impact, C3D8 linear brick elements are used to mesh the beam while the hammer is
modelled as a discrete rigid body. A roller with unrestrained axial displacement supports the beam-
ends (Fig. 3 a). The damping ratio of the system was calibrated on the experimental results and
introduced in the model as a mass proportional damping in the Rayleigh model.
3.1 Material behaviour and strain rate sensitivity
The material of the beam was introduced as true stress-true strain law with isotropic hardening,
based on coupon test results. In impact related problems, the strain rate sensitivity of steel, or the
increase of resistance due to the increased rate of deformation, cannot be neglected. There are
several way to account for the strain rate in FE modelling; in this work three different material
models are analysed and compared with a model neglecting the strain rate. One of the goal of this
investigation is to examine the more appropriate method to be used in drop weight test simulations.
All the proposed methodologies are linked to the concept of DIF (dynamic increase factor), which
is a parameter used to estimate the increase of resistance associated to the dynamic loading at the
material level (microscopic) or at the level of the structural element (macroscale). The first material
model simply neglects the influence of strain rate (NSR-No strain rate). The second one implements
the strain rate effects using Johnson-Cook material law (JC), given in Eq. (1). The third model uses
the power Cowper Symonds law (CS. Eq. (2)) while the last one incorporates the American code
approach (DoD), which increases the yield and ultimate stress by a DIF given in (11) and in Fig. 3
b.
𝑛 𝜀̇ 𝑝 𝑛
𝜎𝑑 = (𝐴 + 𝐵(𝜀𝑝 ) ) (1 + 𝐶𝑙𝑛 𝜀̇ ) (1 − (𝑇 ∗ )𝑚 )=(𝐴 + 𝐵(𝜀𝑝 ) )𝐷𝐼𝐹(1 − (𝑇 ∗ )𝑚 ) (1)
0
806 |
where σd is the yield stress [MPa], A and B account for the effect of strain hardening; m is the
thermal softening factor and T*=(T-T0)/(Tm-T0) where T, T0 and Tm are respectively the working
temperature, room temperature and melting temperature. If the temperature influence is neglected
the only parameter to be determined is C.
1
𝜀̇ 𝑞
𝜎𝑑 = 𝜎𝑠 (1 + (𝐷) ) 𝜎𝑑 = 𝜎𝑠 𝐷𝐼𝐹 (2)
where σs is the static yield stress and the parameters to be determined are D and q.
a) b)
Fig. 3. a) FE model; b) DoD dynamic increase factor.
The parameters of the two semi empirical material law were calibrated using twelve tensile tests,
performed at two rates of deformation (0.5 1/s and 5 1/s) and performed in the framework of the
ROBUSTIMPACT project (12). The Cowper-Symonds parameters q=6.17 and D=8480 were
obtained through a nonlinear least-squares method while the parameter C of the Johnson-Cook law
was obtained with the same procedure of (7) and the found value (C=0.038) is in line with the value
obtained in the reference work.
3.2 Validation
For all the analysed cases, the results are reported in Fig. 4, overall the JC and the CS models are
more accurate for impact problems. In fact, when their parameters are properly calibrated, the
results are in good agreement with the performed experimental tests. When the strain rate effect is
negligible (for example in test ITB01M1H250) the four proposed models give coincident results.
Otherwise, when the impact energy grows and the strain rate becomes meaningful, the NSR model
overestimate the peak displacement and the permanent deformation, the DoD model underestimate
both values, while JC and CS models give similar results, which are close to the experimental
evidence.
a) b)
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c) d)
e) f)
g)
Fig. 4. Comparison between FEM modelling and experimental tests: (a) ITB01 M1 H250; (b) ITB02 M1 H500; (c)
ITB05 M1 H1000; (d) ITB06 M1 H3000; (e) ITB07 M2 H250; (f) ITB08 M2 H500; (g) ITB09 M2 H1000.
3.3 DIF estimation

In order to give an estimation of the dynamic increase factor (DIF) for beam under impact loadings
(Eq. (3)), the force associated to the impact has been calculated with the impulse-momentum
theorem - FIT in Eq. (4) - and with the FE model (FFEM). For the latter, the material model
considered is the JC model presented above. With the estimated values of the force, two values of
DIFs are reported in Table 2 for the test in which consistent plasticity has been observed.
𝐹 𝐹𝐹𝐸𝑀
𝐷𝐼𝐹𝐼𝑇 = 𝐹 𝐼𝑇 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐷𝐼𝐹𝐹𝐸𝑀 = 𝐹𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡
(3)
𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ ⃗
𝑣 ⃗
−𝑣
𝐹𝐼𝑇 ∆𝑡 = 𝑚∆𝑣 → ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
̅̅̅̅ ̅̅̅̅
𝐹𝐼𝑇 = 𝑚 ∙ 𝑎𝑐𝑡,𝑖𝑚𝑝 𝑟𝑒𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 (4)
∆𝑡1
Table 2. Dynamic increase factors

M h vact,imp vrebound FStat FIT FFEM DIFIT DIFFEM
Test
[Kg] [m] [m/s] [m/s] [kN] [kN] [kN]
ITB05 M1 H1000 211 1000 3.760 2.394 137.5 149.9 157.6 1.09 1.14
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ITB06 M1 H3000 211 3000 7.310 2.201 144.2 167.4 172.4 1.16 1.19
ITB08 M2 H500 460 500 2.600 1.835 138.1 161.2 157.6 1.17 1.14
ITB09 M2 H1000 460 1000 4.095 1.910 141.5 176.5 168.4 1.25 1.19
4 CONCLUSIONS
The paper is devoted to the study of the strain rate influence in drop weight tests. An experimental
campaign on simply supported steel beam has been performed impacting nine specimens with a
drop weight impactor. The main outcomes of the work can be summarized as follow:
• The constitutive material law in FE analyses is a key point when strain rate is relevant;
• Three methods to account for strain rate have been investigated. The two studied semi-
empirical material laws, Johnson Cook and Cowper Symonds, are able to reproduce more
accurately the material behaviour if their coefficients are adequately calibrated;
• The proposed FE model, in Abaqus/CAE©, was able to reproduce all the experimental
evidences with a good agreement implementing the two calibrated material laws;
• The model investigated in this work can be a useful insight for material modelling under
high strain rates;
• A first attempt to estimate the DIF and the dynamic behavior of the beam under impact
loading is given. However, the given value of DIF is calculated referring to the maximum
achieved displacement during the tests.
REFERENCES
1. E. L. Grimsmo, A. H. Clausen, M. Langseth, and A. Aalberg. An experimental study of static

and dynamic behaviour of bolted end-plate joints of steel,” Int. J. Impact Eng., vol. 85, no. July, pp.
132–145, 2015.
2. Influence of strain rate effects on the analysis of steel sections under blast loads. V. Karlos and
G. Solomos., 8th Hell. Natl. Conf. Steel Struct. Proc., no. September 2001, pp. 1–9, 2014.
3. K. Chen and K. H. Tan. Behaviour of steel and composite beam-column joints subjected to
quasi-static and impact loads, Universitat Politècnica de València, ASCCS, pp. 29–38, 2018.
4. J.-F. Demonceau, L. Comeliau, L. Hoang Van, and J.-P. Jaspart. How can a steel structure
survive to impact loading? Numerical and analytical investigations, Open Civ. Eng. J., vol. 11, pp.
434–452, 2017.
5. Robustness of steel and composite buildings under impact loading. L.Comeliau, J-F.
Demonceau, J.-P. Jaspart, SDSS' Rio 2010: International Colloquium Stability and Ductility of
Steel Structures
6. A. Santiago, L. S. da Silva, P. V. Real, and M. Veljkovic. Numerical study of a steel sub-frame
in fire, Comput. Struct., 2008.
7. J. Ribeiro, A. Santiago, C. Rigueiro, P. Barata, and M. Veljkovic. Numerical assessment of
T-stub component subjected to impact loading, Eng. Struct., 2016.
8. European Committee for Standardization. Eurocode 1 – Actions on structures – Part 1-7:
General actions Accidental actions, 2006.
9. A. Al-Rifaie, Z. W. Guan, S. W. Jones, and Q. Wang. Lateral impact response of end-plate
beam-column connections, Eng. Struct., vol. 151, no. November, pp. 221–234, 2017.
10. J.-F. Demonceau, H. Vanvinckenroye, M. D’Antimo, V. Denoel, and J.-P. Jaspart. Beam-
to-column joints, column bases and joint components under impact loading, ce/papers, vol. 1, no.
2–3, pp. 3890–3899, Sep. 2017.
11. Unified facilities criteria (UFC) – Design of buildings to resist progressive collapse, 2009.
Department of Defence,.
12. Robust impact design of steel and composite building structures – ROBUSTIMPACT,
Final report, Grant agreement number RFSR-CT-2012-00029. 2015.
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NORDIC STEEL 2019

The 14th Nordic Steel Construction Conference,

Numerical and experimental investigation of simply supported steel beams

Keywords: Drop weight test, Impact, Steel beams, FEM modelling

2.1 Experimental results

Table 1. Results of impact tests with mass M1 and M2

3 FINITE ELEMENT MODELLING AND VALIDATION

3.3 DIF estimation

Table 2. Dynamic increase factors

1. E. L. Grimsmo, A. H. Clausen, M. Langseth, and A. Aalberg. An experimental study of static

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