Behaviour of Aluminium Beam Subjected to Impact Load

Abstract

The structural formwork used in aeroplane, vehicle, ship etc. occasionally subjected to impact load due to collide with other objects. Recently, for being lightweight, Aluminium has been used to build up various components of different structures. It is established that this metal has good mechanical property and it can absorb significant amount of energy. Therefore, it is really important to know the behaviour of a beam made up of aluminium under various loading conditions especially under dynamic load. For this reason, experimental investigation has been carried out on both ends clamped hallow cast aluminium beam to observe the elesto-plastic behaviour. This study will help to understand the mechanical behaviour of aluminium beams under low velocity (3.75 m/s to 5.90 m/s) impact. Number of hallow aluminium beams with same geometrical properties have been tested to observe the behaviour of the beam under impact load at mid span with different velocity. Formation of crater, crippling of webs at impact point and support dictates the global deformation with the application of impact energy. Large plastic deformation occurred at bottom fibre below the impact point and top fibre at the support of beam. The theoretical deflection compares well with experimental value due to taking account local and global energy absorption.