Experimental investigation on large deflection response of a frame impacted by a moving body

This paper reports on the experimental investigation of the dynamic large deflection response of a portal frame impacted at its midspan by a body moving at a certain speed. Both the deflection and velocity vs. time curves of the midspan and the dynamic history of a number of desired locations were recorded during the process of response. On the basis of the test data, the momentum and kinetic energy conversion between the frame and the moving body in the impact process are realized, and the occurrence and expansion of plastic regions are described. Investigation results show that the initial collision is approximately ideally inelastic, and that the elastic deformation plays a considerable role in the response though the input energy is much larger than the maximum elastic energy capacity of the beam member; therefore, in a general impact, the energy ratio should not be regarded as a sufficient criterion for a rigid—plastic solution. The ratios of the impulse transferred to and the energy absorbed by the frame in the initial collision to that carried by the moving body before impact is only related to the ratiobetween the equivalent mass of the frame paticipating in the initial collision and the mass of the impacting body, having nothing to do with the impacting velocity to a certain extent.