Impact load in parking steel column: code review and numerical approach

Abstract

European regulations, including the Eurocode 1, describe the dynamic forces originated by a vehicle impact on a structure by means of an equivalent static load based on the mass and the velocity of the vehicle that impacts on the column. The expressions used to determine this load and the values of the parameters involved in this problem are significantly different in each part of the Eurocode 1. In order to validate the expressions proposed by the Eurocode 1 for this equivalent static load, a numeric model of F.E.M. has been developed. This model analyzes the effect of a vehicle impact on a column of a conventional building parking. A decisive factor in the obtained results is the dissipated energy during the impact. Some authors simulate the impact object by means of a rigid element but a real vehicle is very different than this object because it is designed to dissipate large amount of energy even at low velocity. The vehicle used to simulate the impact load was a Chevrolet pickup from the year 1994. The model of finite elements for the vehicle has been obtained of the USA National Crash Analysis Center database.