Finite element stress analysis and strength evaluation of epoxy-steel cylinders subjected to impact push-off loads

The stress wave propagations and stress distributions in epoxy-steel cylinders in which the outside surface of a solid cylinder (steel) is adhered to the inside surface of a hollow cylinder (epoxy resin) subjected to impact push-off loads were analyzed using the finite element method (FEM). The impact push-off loads were applied to epoxy-steel cylinders on a solid cylinder by dropping a weight. The FEM code employed was ANSYS/LS-DYNA. It was found that the maximum principal stress occurs at the upper edge of the interface, where the rupture initiates in epoxy-steel cylinders under the impact push-off loads. Besides, it was also found that the normal stress near the upper edge of the interface increases as the rigidity and the initial impact velocity increase; meanwhile it decreases as the diameter and the height of the solid cylinder increase. The strength of epoxy-steel cylinders increases as the rigidity of the solid cylinder increases, and the diameter and the height of the solid cylinder decrease. In addition, it was observed that the characteristics of the joints subjected to the impact push-off loads are opposite to those of the joints subjected to the static push-off loads. Furthermore, experiments were carried out to measure the strain response of epoxy-steel cylinders subjected to impact and static push-off loads. Fairly good agreements were observed between the numerical and the measured results.