WHAT is Impact Transient Analysis?
Impact transient analysis is a numerical simulation technique used in engineering and physics to study the behaviour of complex systems under dynamic loading conditions. It is a type of finite element analysis (FEA) that focuses on simulating transient and highly nonlinear phenomena, such as high-velocity impacts, explosions, crash events and other scenarios where the time scale of the response is important.
In impact transient analysis, the equations of motion for the system are integrated in small time steps, explicitly considering the time-dependent effects of applied forces, material properties, and boundary conditions. Unlike implicit methods, which solve for equilibrium at each time step and are better suited for stable and slow-loading situations, impact transient analysis directly integrates the equations of motion and is more appropriate for fast and transient events.
The key characteristics of impact transient analysis are:
Time-Dependent Loading: The loading conditions vary rapidly over time and the behaviour of the system needs to be analysed at each time step.
Short Duration Events: The analysis focuses on short-lived events where inertia and other dynamic effects significantly influence the system's response.
Large Deformations: The analysis accounts for large deformations and in some cases, materials may undergo significant changes in their mechanical properties during the simulation.
Contact and Impact: Impact transient analysis is suitable for modelling and simulating contact and impact between multiple bodies with varying degrees of penetration and separation.
Applications of impact transient analysis include automotive crash testing, aerospace structural analysis during bird strikes, ballistic impacts, drop tests of consumer products and various other impact and explosion-related simulations.
WHAT are the benefits of performing Impact Transient analysis?
Performing impact transient analysis offers several benefits that make it a valuable tool in engineering and scientific simulations. The key advantages are:
Accurate Representation of Dynamic Events: Impact transient analysis is well-suited for accurately simulating high-speed and transient events. It captures the complex interactions, large deformations and rapid changes in forces and velocities that occur during dynamic loading scenarios.
Improved Understanding of Dynamic Behaviour: By simulating the behaviour of a system under dynamic conditions, engineers and researchers can gain a deeper understanding of how it responds to various loads, impacts and collisions. This insight is crucial for optimising designs and improving safety.
Predictive Capabilities: Impact transient analysis enables engineers to predict the behaviour of structures and components under real-world dynamic conditions without physically testing each scenario. This capability helps identify potential failure points and design weaknesses early in the development process.
Reduced Prototyping Costs: By performing virtual simulations, engineers can reduce the need for physical prototypes and expensive testing. This leads to cost savings and faster development cycles.
Design Optimisation: Impact transient analysis allows engineers to explore different design alternatives quickly and efficiently. They can evaluate the impact of design changes on the dynamic behaviour of the system and choose the most suitable configuration.
Safety Evaluation: For applications involving human safety, such as automotive crash tests, impact transient analysis helps assess the potential risks and optimise designs to meet safety standards effectively.
Material and Failure Analysis: Impact transient analysis can predict material behaviour under extreme conditions, such as impact or explosion. It helps identify potential failure modes, such as cracks, fractures or excessive deformation.
Impact of Loads on Assemblies: In multi-body systems or assemblies, impact transient analysis can study how components interact with each other during dynamic events, providing insights into the overall performance.
Time Efficiency: Though impact transient analysis can be computationally intensive, they are generally more time-efficient than conducting physical tests for complex dynamic scenarios.
Visualisation of Complex Phenomena: The graphical output of impact transient analysis provides visual insights into the dynamic behaviour of the system, making it easier to communicate results and understand complex phenomena.
Thus, impact transient analysis is a powerful tool that enables engineers and researchers to gain critical insights into the dynamic behaviour of systems, improve designs and ensure safety and reliability across a wide range of applications.
Impact Transient Analysis
As one of the leading impact simulation consultants offering impact transient analysis services, our PhD-qualified consultants employ high-accuracy simulation package to perform hostile vehicle mitigation (HVM) study. Our reports helped to expedite the design and development of HVM barrier systems more economically relative to conducting physical crash testings.
For products that must withstand short-duration (ms, µs, ns) severe loadings, we offer design improvement through impact transient analysis. Our analysis captures the physics of short-duration events for products exposed to highly nonlinear, transient dynamic forces, providing a cost-effective alternative to physical testing. Our impact simulation consultants use simulation packages with algorithms based on first principles, accurately predicting complex responses such as large material deformations, failure and interactions between bodies. The comprehensive reports we generate detail how structures respond under severe loadings.
Our services focus on two main areas: low-velocity impact and high-velocity impact.
Hostile Vehicle Mitigation (HVM) Analysis
- Simulating the impact of vehicles on crash barriers to evaluate the effectiveness of hostile vehicle mitigation strategies
- Assessing stress and deformation in barrier structures to optimise design against vehicle ramming incidents
- Evaluating the protective capabilities of barriers against vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIED) for enhanced security applications
AUSTRALIA SINGAPORE
High Velocity Impact Analysis
- Studying the interaction of projectiles impacting on a single or composite material
- Analysing the consequences of blast fragments interacting with nearby structures such as flammable gas tanks, window glass and automobiles
- Assisting in the design and development of ballistic vest, armoured personnel carrier, warships and tanks
Car Crash Analysis
- Simulating the deformation of vehicle structures during impact scenarios to predict crashworthiness and safety
- Evaluating the stress distribution in automobile components under various crash conditions for optimising material use and design
- Assisting in the development of automotive safety features, including bumper systems, crumple zones and energy-absorbing structures