Hi
The failure in Ansys is due to local buckling/failure and not due to cracking like in the experiments so as you say that is the main difference and hence the different results (exp. vs fea).
See if an explicit or LS-Dyna analysis can capture the crack via element erosion (removing elements that have failed), but that is something to investigate as I have not seen an analysis on this before. Also the bottom base plate seems to have more flexibility in the experiment so that is also something to consider (probably other things to).
Hope this helps
Erik
You are navigating away from the AIS Discovery experience