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RECOLO: A Python package for the reconstruction of surface pressure loads from kinematic fields using the virtual fields method |
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30 October 2021 |
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In experimental mechanics, conducting non-intrusive measurements of surface pressure distributions acting on blast-loaded structures remains a challenge even in controlled, laboratory environments (see e.g., [@Pannell2021]). Still, for the design of tomorrow's sustainable and material-efficient structures, detailed knowledge of how pressure loads from extreme loading events interact with deformable structures is essential. When pressure loads are imposed on a deformable structure, fluid-structure interaction (FSI) effects are known to cause non-trivial loading scenarios which are difficult to quantify (see e.g., [@Aune2021]). This project aims at reconstructing the full-field surface pressure loads acting on a deforming structure employing the virtual fields method (VFM) on full-field kinematic measurements [@Kaufmann2019]. Even though the current framework is limited to reconstructions of full-field pressure information from deformation data of thin plates in pure bending, it also allows for future extensions to other loading and deformation scenarios. Provided that the properties of the structure are known, the transient pressure distribution on the plate can be reconstructed. To understand the capabilities and accuracy associated with the pressure reconstruction methodology, the package provides tools for performing virtual experiments based on analytical data or data from finite element simulations. The current implementation is based on the deflectometry technique, using the grid method to obtain the deformation measurements and corresponding kinematics of the structure.
This Python package is made for RECOnstructing surface pressure LOads, RECOLO, acting on plated structures based on deformation measurements using the VFM [@Pierron2012].
The current implementation determines the surface pressure acting on a thin plate undergoing small deformations, assuming linear, elastic material behaviour. However, the framework will be extended to large plastic deformations, allowing the two-way interaction between the pressure loading and the deformation of the plate to be studied.
Other VFM toolkits such as PeriPyVFM are readily available but typically aimed at determining material properties from deformation and load measurements. Hence, as opposed to other VFM toolkits, RECOLO assumes that the material properties are known and use the full-field deformation measurements to reconstruct the pressure loading.
RECOLO contains a collection of tools enabling the user to perform virtual experiments on synthetically generated data as well
as performing pressure reconstruction on experimental datasets. The pressure reconstruction algorithm is based on the work by [@Kaufmann2019].
The implementation is based on numerical operations provided by NumPy [@Numpy] and SciPy [@SciPy] as well as visualization by Matplotlib [@Matplotlib].
RECOLO was established to quantify the blast loading acting on plated structures in a purpose-built shock tube apparatus at SIMLab, NTNU [@Aune2016]. To the authors' best knowledge there a no open-source software providing the functionality necessary to perform pressure load reconstruction based on the kinematics of plated structures during fast transient dynamics, motivating the RECOLO project.
The methodology developed in this project is directly applicable to obtain new, unique insight into surface pressure distributions on plated structures subjected to blast loading. This project is part of the ongoing research within the SIMLab research group at NTNU.
The authors gratefully appreciate the financial support from the Research Council of Norway (RCN) through the Centre for Advanced Structural Analysis (SFI-CASA RCN Project No. 237885) and the SLADE KPN project (RCN Project No. 294748). The financial support by the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security is also greatly appreciated.