Response of Foam- and Concrete-Filled Square Steel Tubes under Low-Velocity Impact Loading
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 25, Issue 5
Abstract
This paper presents the results of experimental and numerical studies of the comparative behavior of square hollow section (SHS) tubes filled with rigid polyurethane foam (RPF) and concrete undergoing transverse impact loading. A series of instrumented drop hammer tests were performed on mild steel and stainless steel SHSs for both filled and unfilled constructions. The concrete-filled tubes had the highest impact resistance and energy absorption capacity, followed by the steel tubes filled with RPF, and then the hollow tubes. The results also show that RPFs can be used as an effective infill material in structural steel hollow columns when expedient enhancement of the energy absorption capacity is required, e.g., to increase blast and impact resistance of hollow structural elements. Nonlinear dynamic finite-element analyses were carried out to simulate drop hammer test conditions. The predicted impact forces, deformation histories, and failure modes were found to be in good agreement with the experimental results.
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Acknowledgments
The authors wish to acknowledge former honors students Grant Mete and Mitchell Hugo and technical officer Mr. Alan Grant from the University of Wollongong for assisting with the experiments. This research was supported under Australian Research Council’s Discovery Projects funding scheme (project No. ARCDP0879733).
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Information
Published In
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 25 • Issue 5 • October 2011
Pages: 373 - 381
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 2, 2010
Accepted: Sep 13, 2010
Published online: Sep 23, 2010
Published in print: Oct 1, 2011
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