IMPACT DYNAMICS OF COMPOSITE BEAMS

The dynamics of a composite beam subject to transverse impact is inves tigated. A linearized contact law based on an elastic-plastic contact is shown to yield excellent results for the impact response. A dynamic ratio which is defined as the ratio of the maximum impact force obtai ned from the dynamic simulation to the one obtained from a half-space analysis (i.e., local contact) is used to characterize the type of imp act response, i.e., whether it is locally dominated, quasi-static or d ynamic. It is found that this ratio depends on a single nondimensional parameter called 'dynamic impact number', which also governs the init ial impact response until the waves are reflected back from the bounda ries.