Impact Loading on RC Cantilever Beam

Abstract

Structural elements are designed to resist several static and dynamic load combinations. On the other hand, impact loading is not considered in the design of these elements. However, failure modes may occur under sudden impact effects. In this study, it is aimed to investigate the impact behaviour of a reinforced concrete cantilever beam. For this purpose, a reinforced concrete beam-column connection is modelled in Abaqus software. As impact loading could be applied in different ways, three types of the striker geometries are utilized in the numerical simulations. After performing non-linear finite elements analysis, the numerical outputs such as accelerations, impact loads and displacements are obtained from the software. These values are exhibited by time dependent graphs. In addition, stress distributions as well as damage patterns are visually presented for each case. Finally, analysis results are evaluated and interpreted as to what extent the suggested numerical procedure could be utilized in such simulations.