Dynamic responose of axially constrained plastic beams to blast loads (Q1081373)

The analysis of a rigid, perfectly plastic rectangular beam with constrained ends subjected to a rectangular pressure pulse of finite duration is presented. Closed form expressions are obtained for the maximum permanent deflection for both simply supported and clamped boundary conditions. These expressions are valid for the full dynamic range from pseudo-static step load to high pressure impulsive loading. The results indicate that the response is strongly influenced by geometry changes even for small deflections. Finally the response expressions are combined to form isoresponse relationships which when plotted form isoresponse curves of direct engineering use.