Impact behavior of high-strength steel beam with circular web openings

Abstract

A drop-weight impact testing machine was used to conduct an impact test on 9 specimens in order to examine the impact resistance of high-strength steel beams with circular web openings (HSSBCWO). The experimental results indicated that the dynamic response of HSSBCWO is significantly affected by the change of impact energy and opening height. A coefficient β is proposed to assess the severity of localized deformation in HSSBCWO, and the range of β values for the specimens of test are found to be approximately between 0.5 and 0.8. Within the range of impact energy designed for the experiment, HSSBCWO primarily absorbed energy through localized plastic deformation. A finite element model which can predict the dynamic response of HSSBCWO under impact load is established. The results show that the optimal ratios of opening height to beam height and spacing between openings to beam height for the HSSBCWO are determined to be 0.50 and 0.93, respectively. Furthermore, a damage evaluation system for HSSBCWO under impact load was established, utilizing the ratio of mid-span residual displacement to calculated beam span Dr / L0 as the damage assessment index, with impact energy, opening height, and spacing between opening as the main control parameters.