Collapse of Rectangular Aluminum Plates with Axial Cracks

Abstract

Results of an experimental and numerical study of the residual strength of compression-loaded rectangular aluminum plates with longitudinal cracks are presented. The paper concentrates first on the experimental results and the numerical simulations of the experiments. The results of a parametric study to determine the effects of varying selected parameters on plate response are also presented. The results indicate that the response of the plates is characterized by a limit load instability that induces collapse. Experimental results show that the collapse loads of the plates depend on the location of the crack and that these loads are lower when the crack is located near a longitudinal edge. The numerical results agree with the experimental results. The results of the parametric study indicate that the dependence of the collapse load on crack length is most significant when the cracks are near a longitudinal edge. The collapse load of plates that are simply supported or clamped on all four edges show the same trends as the crack length increases, although the values are, as expected, different. Plates with edges constrained to remain straight in their planes had higher collapse loads than those with edges free to deform in plane. The degree of geometric imperfection sensitivity of the collapse load is not significantly affected by the presence of cracks for the cases considered.