Date: Tuesday, September 29, 2009 4:30 PM
Location: 366 Hollister Hall
Recently designed high speed naval vessels rely heavily on welded aluminum construction for weight optimization. Aluminum welds are typically under-matched, meaning that they have a lower strength than the unwelded plate. As such, analyses of high speed vessels undergoing severe loads, in particular those of a high rate dynamic nature, requires an understanding of the mechanical performance of welded connections under both quasi-static and high loading rates. In this talk, a discussion of the subject will be presented, including experimental and numerical simulation findings regarding the performance of aluminum weldments. Attention will be given to the importance of weld characterization in predicting the performance of structural elements.
