Two-story structure subjected to impulsive loading

Abstract

Experimental and analytical studies are made of the elastic and elastic-plastic response of a three degree of freedom dynamical system composed of three rigid and compact masses connected by slender columns, the bottom (heaviest) mass being suspended as a ballistic pendulum and subjected to an initial velocity step. Such a system is related to the hehavior of machinery mounted in a ship subjected to an underwater explosion. The analytical work was performed on a high speed digital computer and employed mathematical description of the structural members in which force-deflection relations depended upon previous plastic strain history. Comparisons are made between experimental and analytical responses on the basis of the velocity-time history of the two smaller masses. Good agreement is shown.