A general numerical method previously developed for analyzing large dynamic two-dimensional deformations of simple structures (and of large axisymmetric dynamic deformations of plates and shells with rotational symmetry) was extended and evaluated through comparisons of predictions with experimental dynamic response and permanentdeformation data from explosively-loaded beams and circular rings. The method accounts for elastic, perfectlyplastic, strain hardening, and strain rate behavior of the structural material, and the experimental specimens employed were chosen to emphasize one or more of these characteristics and to provide tests of the adequacy of the theoretical prediction method.