Chaotic phenomena in the dynamic buckling of an elastic-plastic column under an impact

The present study is concerned with the dynamic anomalous response of an elastic-plastic column struck axially by a massm with an initial velocityv ₀. This simple example is considered in order to clarify the influence of the impact characteristics and the material plastic properties on the dynamic buckling phenomenon and particularly on the final vibration amplitudes of the column when it shakes down to a wholly elastic behaviour. The material is assumed to have a linear strain hardening with a plastic with a plastic reloading allowed. These material properties are the reason a number of elastic-plastic cycles to be realized prior to any wholly elastic stable behaviour, which causes different amounts of energy to be absorbed due to the plastic deformations.The column exhibits two types of behaviour over the range of the impact masses — a quasi-periodic and a chaotic response. The chaotic behaviour is caused by the multiple equilibrium states of the column when any small changes in the loading parameters cause small changes in the plastic strains which result in large changes in the response behaviour. The two types of behaviour are represented by displacement-time and phase-plane diagrams. The sensitivity to the load parameters is illustrated by the calculation of a Lyapunov-like exponent. Poincaré maps are shown for three particular cases.Notation c elastic wave propagation speed - m impact mass - m _c column mass - s step of the spatial discretization - t time - u(x,t) axial displacement - v ₀ initial velocity - w ₀(x) initial imperfections - w(x,t)+w ₀(x) total lateral displacements - x axial axis - z axis along the column thickness - A cross-section areahb - E Young's modulus - E _t hardening modulus (Figure 2) - M(x,t) bending moment - N(x,t) axial force - impact mass ratiom/m _c - (x,z) strain - Lyapunov-like exponent - material density - (x,z) stress