Impact force profiles of steel pipes under drop weight impact

Tubular structures have been widely used in the offshore oil and gas industry. The accidental impact is the main cause of damage to tubular structures. It is obvious that the impact force profile governs the impact behaviors of the structure, it is therefore important to accurately determine the impact force profile of a tubular structure under drop weight impact. Previous studies in this area are however very limited. This study systematically investigates the impact force profile from a drop weight impacting on a steel pipe. Comprehensive parametric studies on the key factors that influence the impact force profile are firstly carried out, and the possible impact force profiles are then summarized and classified based on the numerical results. The accuracy of the classified impact force profile is further verified by some previous experimental studies. Numerical results show that the impact force profile on steel pipes can be classified into five types depending on the different pipe and drop weight parameters.