Crack Growth Analysis for a Cylindrical Shell Under Dynamic Loading

Abstract

A cylindrical tube subjected to internal detonation experiences a traveling load that produces transient deformations. The resulting flexural waves in the tube wall can lead to high strains, which substantially exceed the equivalent static strains. This paper reports the growth analysis of a preexisting crack in a thin cylindrical tube using the finite element method. The numerical modeling of the structural response of the tube to detonation loading was performed using WARP3D, which is a nonlinear-dynamic software for crack modeling using FEM. The simulations were compared with experimental results from literature and also with the results obtained from an analytical model for elasto-dynamic response of cylindrical shells with finite length to internal detonation loading. The modeling of crack growth was also performed using WARP3D based on CTOA as the fracture parameter. The final part of the paper is devoted to comparisons between the numerical crack growth simulations and experimental results reported in the literature.