Assignment 4

In this assignment we will use ABAQUS/Explicit to calculate numerically the wave speeds of
longitudinal stress waves in copper and steel. Let us suppose we have two bars, one made of
copper, and the other made of steel, each 27.6 m in length, .575 m in width, and .5 m in
depth. We will apply a velocity pulse at one end of the bar, as shown in the figure. The
velocity pulse will generate a one-dimensional stress wave that will travel along the length of
the bar until it reaches the other end. If we can find from our finite element analysis the time
it takes for the stress wave to traverse the length of the bar, we can calculate the wave
propagation velocity, given that the length of the bar is known. To find the time it takes for
the wave to reach the end of the bar, we will place two light weight rigid floats at the
unloaded end of each rod, exactly in contact with the rod tip. Note that we are modelling one
dimensional wave propagation in the bar using 3 dimensional solid elements. Hence we need
to impose certain constraints on the nodal degrees of freedom of the solid elements. What are
the necessary constraints? According to the theory of elasticity the speed of a one

dimensional wave in a homogeneous material is given by where E is the Young’s

modulus of the material and ρ is its density. Given that for steel E = 2.E+11 N/m 2, ν=.3 and ρ
=7800 Kg/m3 while the corresponding values for copper are E = 1.1E+11 N/m 2, ν=.34 and ρ
= 8940 Kg/m3, how do the theoretical values for the wave speeds compare with the values
you obtained from your numerical experiment. To what can you attribute the differences?
Make sure that any differences you get are not because of too coarse a mesh: i.e. make sure
that your mesh is refined enough so that the discretization error is minimal (a few hundred
elements along the length should be enough). Plot path plots of the stress distribution in the
bars at three different times at T/4, T/2 and 3T/4 where T is time taken for the wave to
traverse the rod.