BEAM: A finite element program for the collapse analysis of vehicle structures
Abstract
BEAM (Beam Element Analysis with Mechanisms) is a finite element program for the analysis of the collapse of vehicle structures. BEAM can quickly estimate the collapse load and plastic hinge locations in three-dimensional thin-walled frames that would collapse in bending. Such information can be combined with separate rigid-plastic modelling to enable the large-deflection design of vehicle frameworks so that their collapse in roll-over accidents, for instance, can be prevented. One advantage of BEAM is that it allows a user to define his own experimentally or analytically determined loads and moments as failure criteria. The theory and operation of BEAM are presented and its application to the modelling of a collapsing two-dimensional frame is described.
- Publication:
-
NASA STI/Recon Technical Report N
- Pub Date:
- June 1994
- Bibcode:
- 1994STIN...9518472C
- Keywords:
-
- Collapse;
- Failure;
- Finite Element Method;
- Loads (Forces);
- Position (Location);
- Stress-Strain Relationships;
- Structural Analysis;
- Thin Walls;
- Computer Aided Design;
- Flow Charts;
- Plastic Deformation;
- Structural Mechanics