Dynamic plastic behavior of a free–free beam striking the mid-span of a clamped beam with shear and membrane effects considered

Recently Yu et al. (Int. J. Solids Struct. 38 (2001) 261) made a study on the dynamic behavior of a flying free–free beam striking the tip of a cantilever beam using the rigid, perfectly plastic (r-p-p) material model. Later, also based on the r-p-p material model Yang and Yu (Mech. Struct. Mach. 29 (2001) 391) analyzed another impact problem of a free rotating hinge beam striking a cantilever beam. Both of these studies ignored the finite deflection effects on the plastic behavior of the colliding beams. However if the free–free beam strikes a clamped beam, the influence of finite-deflections, or, geometric changes, must be retained in the governing equation if the maximum permanent transverse displacement of the clamped beam exceeds the corresponding beam thickness. The problem becomes more interesting since the deformation mechanisms of the beam system and the partitioning of energy dissipation in the beams are significantly different from those predicted by ignoring the influence of membrane forces. Accordingly the failure modes of the structure are different.In the present paper, a theoretical model based on the r-p-p material idealization is proposed to simulate the dynamic behavior when the mid-point of a translating free–free beam impinging on the mid-span of a clamped beam with the beam axes perpendicular to each other. The plastic behavior of the beam system is explored with shear sliding and finite deflection effects taken into account. The final deflection, the dissipation of energy within the two beams after impact and the influence of the structural and material parameters are discussed. It is shown that membrane force plays an important role during the response process, especially when the deflection is of the same order as the thickness of the clamped beam.