Elastic-Plastic Response of 6061-T6 Aluminum Beams to Impulse Loads

The elastic-plastic response of 6061-T6 aluminum beams is examined experimentally and analytically. Simply supported beams are loaded with half-sine wave, short-duration magnetic pressure pulses and the response is monitored with a framing camera and strain gages. A closed-form elastic-plastic approximate theory for peak displacement is derived and compared with measurements and a numerical analysis. Measured displacement-time and strain-time histories are also compared with numerical predictions. Good agreement is shown between measurements and predictions.