Effects of material strain rate, impulse profile on damage evolution of steel plates subjected to repeated pressures

Abstract

This study deals with a numerical estimation of the damage evolution of steel plates used in ships and offshore structures due to repeated slamming-induced pressures. The numerical analysis model was developed using finite element ABAQUS software. Subsequently, the validated model was extended to investigate the effects of material strain rate and impulse profile on the damage evolution of plates having actual scantlings. Different strain rate models were used, and several types of impulse profiles that can be used to simplify the actual slamming pressure were adopted. In the simulation, the material strain hardening was defined for the plate model, and the impulsive pressures were applied uniformly over the plate while it was fully clamped at four edges. The results showed that a large effect of the material strain rate on the damage evolution of the plate was noticed for only several first impacts, while the effect of the impulse profile is remarkable for whole impact events. The occurrence of the pseudo-shakedown phenomenon of steel plates was examined accordingly. The results can be useful for the design of ships and offshore structures against slamming.