ANALYSIS OF THE WATER IMPACT OF SYMMETRIC WEDGES WITH A MULTI- MATERIAL EULERIAN FORMULATION

The two-dimensional hydrodynamic problem of a symmetric wedge vertically impacting in calm water is analysed by using an explicit finite element method based on a multi-material Eulerian formulation. The slam-induced loads on wedges with different deadrise angle at a constant velocity are calculated, including pressure distribution, maximum pressure coefficient, force coefficient and time history of vertical force, which are compared with available theoretical and analytical results. The time evolution of pressure distribution and free surface elevation are presented. Furthermore, the effects of impact velocity are investigated. It shows that this method is capable of predicting the local slamming loads, and as well assessing the effects of the deadrise angle and the impact velocity on the slamming pressure for the wedge-shape section.

ASYMMETRICAL WATER IMPACT OF TWO-DIMENSIONAL WEDGES WITH ROLL ANGLE WITH MULTI-MATERIAL EULERIAN FORMULATION

A hydrodynamic study on the asymmetrical water impact of two-dimensional wedges with roll angle is presented. The slam induced loads on the wedges entering calm water with both vertical and horizontal velocities are predicted based on the explicit finite element method. The effects of the horizontal impact velocity and the roll angle are investigated through the predicted results of pressure distribution, pressure variation during the water entry and total impact force, which are also compared with analytical formulations and other numerical calculations. The present method gives reasonable predictions, compared to the numerical and analytical results.

New insights into soil arching behaviour in column supported embankments

The observation of failure surfaces within column supported embankments is critical to understanding how the embankment stresses are transferred towards the column heads. In this study, finite element simulations utilising a strain softening constitutive model, non-local regularisation and the Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian formulation are used to examine these failure surfaces over various embankment geometries. This methodology offers insights into the nature of the failure mechanism, the development of a plane of equal settlement and the influence of the subsoil settlement profile. Depending on the embankment geometry, the results indicate either a punching failure, inverted general bearing failure, or a localised failure develops. The transition between punching and inverted general bearing failure is found to be closely related to the establishment of a plane of equal settlement within the embankment. The height of the plane of equal settlement and the range of failure mechanisms that develop were largely insensitive to the nature of the subsoil settlement profiles simulated. These findings have implications for the practical design of efficient embankments and the effective design of future experimental studies.

A Well-Balanced SPH-ALE Scheme for Shallow Water Applications

In this work, a new discretization of the source term of the shallow water equations with non-flat bottom geometry is proposed to obtain a well-balanced scheme. A Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian formulation based on Riemann solvers is presented to solve the SWE. Moving-Least Squares approximations are used to compute high-order reconstructions of the numerical fluxes and, stability is achieved using the a posteriori MOOD paradigm. Several benchmark 1D and 2D numerical problems are considered to test and validate the properties and behavior of the presented schemes.

Numerical Simulation of Flame Retardant Polymers Using a Combined Eulerian–Lagrangian Finite Element Formulation

Many polymer-made objects show a trend of melting and dripping in fire, a behavior that may be modified by adding flame retardants (FRs). These affect materials properties, e.g., heat absorption and viscosity. In this paper, the effect of a flame retardant on the fire behavior of polymers in the UL 94 scenario is studied. This goal is achieved essentially by applying a new computational strategy that combines the particle finite element method for the polymer with an Eulerian formulation for air. The sample selected is a polypropylene (PP) with magnesium hydroxide at 30 wt.%. For modelling, values of density, conductivity, specific heat, viscosity, and Arrhenius coefficients are obtained from different literature sources, and experimental characterization is performed. However, to alleviate the missing viscosity at a high temperature, three viscosity curves are introduced on the basis of the viscosity curve provided by NIST and the images of the test. In the experiment, we burn the specimen under the UL 94 condition, recording the process and measuring the temperature evolution by means of three thermocouples. The UL 94 test is solved, validating the methodology and quantifying the effect of FR on the dripping behavior. The numerical results prove that well-adjusted viscosity is crucial to achieving good agreement between the experimental and numerical results in terms of the shape of the polymer and the temperature evolution inside the polymer.

A Simplified ALE model for finite element simulation of ballistic impacts with bullet splash – development and experimental validation

An original simplified finite element model is proposed to simulate the effects of non-penetrating ballistic impacts causing the so-called bullet splash phenomenon (complete bullet fragmentation), while no fragmentation is caused to the target. The model is based on the Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian formulation (ALE) and it simulates the impact as a fluid-structure interaction. The bullet splash phenomenon has been tested by experimental analyses of AISI 304L plates impacted by 9x21 FMJ (full metal jacket) bullets. The model has been developed with the aim of creating a simplified approach to be used in the industry and forensic sciences to simulate the non-penetrating interaction of soft impactors with hard targets. Comparisons between evidence and simulation results lead to the conclusion that the proposed approach can be used in a conservative way to estimate both local and global effects of bullet-splash phenomena.