Coupled discrete/continuum simulations of the impact of granular slugs with clamped beams: stand-off effects

Goel, A.; Uth, T.; Liu, Tao; Wadley, H.N.G.; Deshpande, V.S.

Abstract

Coupled discrete particle/continuum simulations of the normal (zero obliquity) impact of granular slugs against the centre of deformable, end-clamped beams are reported. The simulations analyse the experiments of Uth et al. (2015) enabling a detailed interpretation of their observations of temporal evolution of granular slug and a strong stand-off distance dependence of the structural response. The high velocity granular slugs were generated by the pushing action of a piston and develop a spatial velocity gradient due to elastic energy stored during the loading phase by the piston. The velocity gradient within the “stretching” slug is a strong function of the inter-particle contact stiffness and the time the piston takes to ramp up to its final velocity. Other inter-particle contact properties such as damping and friction are shown to have negligible effect on the evolution of the granular slug. The velocity gradients result in a slug density that decreases with increasing stand-off distance, and therefore the pressure imposed by the slug on the beams is reduced with increasing stand-off. This results in the stand-off dependence of the beam's deflection observed by Uth et al. (2015). The coupled simulations capture both the permanent deflections of the beams and their dynamic deformation modes with a high degree of fidelity. These simulations shed new light on the stand-off effect observed during the loading of structures by shallow-buried explosions.

Citation

Goel, A., Uth, T., Liu, T., Wadley, H., & Deshpande, V. (2018). Coupled discrete/continuum simulations of the impact of granular slugs with clamped beams: stand-off effects. Mechanics of Materials, 116, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mechmat.2017.03.001

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 2, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Mar 4, 2017
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2018
• Deposit Date: Mar 10, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 10, 2017
• Journal: Mechanics of Materials
• Print ISSN: 0167-6636
• Electronic ISSN: 1872-7743
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 116
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mechmat.2017.03.001
• Keywords: Granular material; Particle impact; Discrete particle simulation; Fluid-structure interaction; Landmine; Blast
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/963246
• Publisher URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167663616301879
• Contract Date: Mar 10, 2017