EFFICIENT CALCULATION OF FORCES AND STRESSES DUE TO TRANSVERSE IMPACTOF POLYCRYSTALLINE GRAPHITE BEAMS

A new method is described for the calculation of the time-dependent fo rces and stresses in a polycrystalline graphite beam subjected to tran sverse impact. Unlike earlier methods, which consider the contact area to be infinitesimal, the present method takes account of the effect o f the time-dependent finite contact area, and is therefore more realis tic. It has the effect of limiting the high-frequency modes of respons e of the beam, which has the computational advantage of improving the convergence of the summation for stresses.