Determining effective contact stiffness between striker and composite shell

An approach to determining the effective contact stiffness between a strike r and composite shell is presented. The effective contact stiffness is obta ined via impact tests in conjunction with an analytic impact function recen tly presented by the authors. The relationship between the effective contac t stiffness and the contact coefficients defined by Hertzian contact laws i s described. Impact tests are conducted on simply-supported glass/epoxy cyl indrical and ogival shells. The effective contact stiffnesses for these she lls impacted by a solid striker are obtained using the present method. In a ddition, effects of impact mass and impact velocity on the contact force ar e examined and discussed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserve d.