Jrc 2011-56063 draft : a physically motivated internal state variable plas ticity and damage model embedded with a length scale for hazmat tank cars ’ structural integrity applications

In this study, we use a physically-motivated internal state variable model containing a mathematical length scale to re present the material behavior in finite element (FE) simulation s f hazmat tank car shell impacts. Two goals motivated the curre nt study: (1) to reproduce with high fidelity finite deformation a d temperature histories, damage, and high rate phenomena whi ch arise during the impact, as well as (2) to investigate numeri cal aspects associated with post-bifurcation mesh-dependenc y of the finite element solution. We add the mathematical length scal e to the model by adopting a nonlocal evolution equation for th e damage, as suggested by Pijaudier-Cabot and Bazant (1987) i n a slightly different context. The FE simulations consist of a moving striker colliding against a stationary hazmat tank car a nd are carried out with the aid of ABAQUS/Explicit. The results of t hese simulations show that accounting for temperature historie s and nonlocal damage effects in the material model satisfactori ly p edicts, independently of the mesh size, the failure process o f the tank car impact accident. ∗Address all correspondence to this author.