The Inelastic Deformation of Pressurized Stainless Steel Tubes Under Dynamic Bending and Torsional Loading

A test program was conducted to investigate the inelastic response behavior of internally pressurized tubes subjected to dynamic bending and torsion loads. The basic experiment was a drop test in which the cantilever tube was dynamically loaded by a torque arm with a concentrated weight at the end. The experimental data consist of strain versus time records and peak and permanent deflections. Analytical predictions of the response were made using a lumped parameter beam model of the structure. This simple representation of the pressurized tube is made possible by use of an approximate analytical model for the inelastic deformation of a pipe element subjected to pressure, bending and torsion. The predicted responses are compared with measured responses to assess the accuracy of the models.