ON THE IMPACT OF A SPHERICAL INDENTER AND AN ELASTIC-PLASTIC TRANSVERSELY ISOTROPIC HALF-SPACE

An impact model for the impact of a spherical indenter and a transvers ely isotropic half-space is presented. An elastic-plastic contact law which incorporates permanent local deformations is used in the dynamic analysis. The results of the proposed model agree well with limited e xperimental data found in the literature. Normalization of the differe ntial equation yields a single governing parameter termed the ''charac teristic impact parameter'', which is a non-dimensional grouping of al l the pertinent impact parameters. The impact response and the coeffic ient of restitution are determined for various impact situations as a function of this single parameter.