Collision between a ring and a beam

With car–parapet collision accidents in mind, a normal collision between a free-flying half ring and a simply supported beam with/without axial constraints is studied, in which an elastic–plastic half ring with an attached mass and the elastic–plastic beam are taken as the simplest models of a car and a parapet, respectively. Particular attention is paid to the energy partitioning between the two structures and the evolution of the contact regions during collision. A mass–spring finite difference (MS–FD) model is employed whilst the large deflection and axial stretching/compression are incorporated. The numerical results show that the less stiff (i.e. softer) structure will dissipate more energy and the contact regions will move away from the initial contact points. With the increase of the relative thickness of the beam to the ring, the final deformation of the half ring will transform from a “U” shape to a “W” shape.