How to create a circle expanding effect?

I would probably do this using Worldposition. If you do WorldPosition - HitPosition that will automatically give you a world basis centered around the impact point. That also bypasses any UV issues.

Simple cosine then biasscaled into the 0-1 range would get ripples, or you could build a single expanding ring mathematically by using the distance node and some expanding offsets. Kind of like a sphere mask that is soft on both sides.