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ABSTRACT
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x
y
In Eqn. (2), N is the shape function of the element. Constitutive evaluations are then obtained by using the
presented velocity-strain displacement relations.
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207GPa
Density
7830kg/m3
Yield stress
200MPa
Ultimate stress
448MPa
Hardening modulus
630MPa
Poissons ratio
0.3
%
5.08
3.88
0.76
0.85
0.30
0.21
0.30
0.11
0.09
0.16
0.05
0.04
0.01
0.06
Bending deformation
0.6456 mm
0.6457 mm
0.6435 mm
0.6442 mm
0.6442 mm
0.6442 mm
0.6442 mm
0.6442 mm
0.6442 mm
0.6442 mm
0.6442 mm
0.6442 mm
0.6442 mm
0.6442 mm
0.6442 mm
%
0.22
0.23
0.11
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Computing time
3 sec
3 sec
3 sec
3 sec
3 sec
4 sec
6 sec
7 sec
9 sec
13 sec
18 sec
26 sec
40 sec
66 sec
124 sec
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(a)
(b)
Figure 1. FEA steel plate model (a) coarsest mesh (b) finest mesh
6.00
5.00
Error (%)
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
0.00
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
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(a)
(b)
Figure 3. Stress distribution of (a) coarsest mesh model (b) finest mesh model
(a)
(b)
Figure 4. Bending of (a) coarsest mesh model (b) finest mesh model
5. Impact Analysis
After static analysis, impact analyses were carried out on a thin-walled steel beam with a square cross
section, whose dimension is 120 mm 120 mm and wall thickness is 3 mm. During the analyses, this beam
impacted a rigid wall at 15 m/s and buckled. A series of FE models were generated for that beam whose
axial direction was meshed from 2 (coarsest mesh) to 120 (finest mesh) divisions. The crash time was set as
0.01 seconds. Impact force, absorbed energy, and global displacement were computed for each FE model
and compared in Table 3, where the approximate error was calculated based on comparing each result to the
results yielded from the finest-meshed beam model. Fig. 5 displays the crushed model with coarsest mesh (2
divisions), medium mesh (60 divisions), and finest mesh (120 divisions). The effects of elements size on the
accuracy of important impact analysis results are plotted through Figs. 6 to 8. It needs to be mentioned that
hourglass modes (nonphysical, zero-energy modes of deformation that produce zero strain and no stress) did
not occur in these impact analyses. This is because that our models are meshed using Belytschko-Tsay shell
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Impact force
90.88 kN
61.39 kN
19.02 kN
10.09 kN
9.32 kN
9.46 kN
9.65 kN
9.82 kN
8.85 kN
5.26 kN
5.31 kN
5.35 kN
5.42 kN
%
1577
1033
251
86.2
72.1
74.7
78.1
81.4
63.3
2.86
2.02
1.21
Absorbed energy
41.48 kJ
39.99 kJ
22.88 kJ
20.19 kJ
19.85 kJ
19.85 kJ
17.33 kJ
19.97 kJ
19.84 kJ
19.86 kJ
19.45 kJ
19.32 kJ
18.90 kJ
%
119
106
21.0
6.83
5.00
5.02
8.30
5.62
4.95
5.08
2.87
2.19
Displacement
48.65 mm
50.03 mm
65.67 mm
85.5 mm
88.9 mm
91.36 mm
93.33 mm
97.37 mm
96.88 mm
96.33 mm
93.44 mm
94.43 mm
94.87 mm
%
48.7
47.3
30.8
9.88
6.32
3.70
1.62
2.63
2.11
1.53
1.51
0.47
Computing time
1 sec
1 sec
1 sec
2 sec
5 sec
9 sec
14 sec
21 sec
68 sec
111 sec
198 sec
357 sec
1198 sec
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(a)
(b)
(c)
Figure 5. Deformed beam models with (a) coarsest mesh, (b) medium mesh, and (c) finest mesh
1800.00
1600.00
1400.00
Error (%)
1200.00
1000.00
800.00
600.00
400.00
200.00
0.00
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
# of Mesh Elements along Beam Model
140
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Error (%)
100.00
80.00
60.00
40.00
20.00
0.00
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
# of Mesh Elements along Beam Model
140
60.00
50.00
Error (%)
40.00
30.00
20.00
10.00
0.00
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
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Deflection
1654 mm
1683 mm
1689 mm
1691 mm
1691 mm
Difference %
2.19
0.47
0.12
0
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(a) 2 elements
(c) 10 elements
(b) 5 elements
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(a) 2 elements
(c) 10 elements
(b) 5 elements
Figure 10. Lowest frequency mode of beam models with different element size
7. Uniqueness of this Study
Several investigators have performed sound research in revealing the effects of mesh density on the FE
results of computer simulation of linear and nonlinear problems. DAmours et al. [11] presented an analysis
of crush response of hydroformed aluminum tubes. From the FE simulation, they found that in certain
instances, it may be better to use a fine mesh size for the hydroforming model and remap forming results to
coarser mesh sizes for crashworthiness models to save computational time. Aramayo [12] developed a FE
model of a Ford Explorer SUVwith arbitrary element size and size distribution. The general model was used
for frontal impact analysis with different scenarios, and the simulation results were verified by comparing
with experimental results of crash tests. In developing the FE model, the mesh density was parameterized in
different regions so that a fine mesh was employed in one half of the front of the object and a coarse mesh
elsewhere. Donadon and Iannucci [13] presented an objective algorithm for strain softening material models.
In order to evaluate the performance of the algorithm, a mesh sensitivity study was performed where a
simple coupon test simulation was performed on the virtual coupon models with six different mesh densities.
On comparing the structural response obtained using the different mesh types, it was found that the energy
dissipated in the formation of crack is mesh insensitive. Makino [14] examined the performance on the fine
mesh model and developed a 10-million shell elements car model in order to achieve the good accuracy in
crash analysis by LS-DYNA. Comparing with aforementioned research, the uniqueness of the present study
lies on following areas. (1) Despite the well known fact that fine mesh leads to higher accuracy while the
coarse mesh improves the computing efficiency, this study demonstrates how the element size affect the
accuracy and efficiency through a series of simulations and presents a primary guideline of choosing the
optimal element size for different type of analysis. (2) Instead of only focusing on impact analysis, this
research completely studies the effects of mesh density through static, impact, and modal analysis.
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