Validation of the material point method for the simulation of thin-walled tubes under lateral compression

Abstract

This paper evaluates the performance of the material point method for the simulation of thin-walled tubes under lateral compression. Validation is carried out against actual experimental results for three different scenarios, namely: quasi-static loading, impact on rigid target, and wave propagation. A systematic approach is taken to gain insight on the trade-off between accuracy and computational cost at different levels of refinement of the model. Accuracy is assessed by comparing simulation results against experimental data. Computational cost is measured by the simulation runtime, or more specifically, in terms of the ratio between simulation time and execution time. Results indicate that, from highest influence to lowest, the factors affecting accuracy are: grid resolution, particle count along the thickness of the tube, and particle count along the circumference of the tube. Overall, it is demonstrated that the MPM is a reliable and accurate method to model circular thin-walled tubes under various excitation conditions.