Impact behavior and fracture of jointed steel plates

Abstract
The present study is concerned with the impact behavior and fracture of jointed steel plates used in cars. The strength and failure of joint parts subjected to impact loads are examined for an accurate prediction of crash characteristics of car bodies by CAE. Members of lap-bolted joints in the suspension of a car are modeled as a pair of steel plates connected by a bolt. One of the plates is the specimen subjected to plastic deformation and fracture and the other is a jig which is subjected to elastic deformation only. We focus our attention on the impact shear deformation and fracture of the specimen plate. The specimens are made of a steel plate with a tensile strength of 270 MPa, while the jig plate is made of high tensile strength steel of 780 MPa. The impact shear test was performed using the Split Hopkinson bar technique for tensile impact. The behavior of the shear stress and deformation up to rupture taking place in the joint. Numerical simulations were also carried out to compare with experimental results and to understand the mechanism of the fracture process in plates of a bolted joint.