Dynamic Response of Clamped Rectangular Plates Impulsed by a Steel Ball.

Abstract

Transient vibrations in a clamped isotropic rectangular plate caused by the impact of a steel ball are investigated numerically and experimentally. In the numerical approach, the contact law between the plate and the steel ball is approximated by the Hertzian contact theory which was proposed for a static contact problem. The in-plane forces due to the deflection of the plate are not taken into consideration. Since the effect of the in-plane forces is negligible in the case of a very small plate deflection, the numerical approach is justified by comparing the numerical results with the experimental results. The effect of the in-plane forces on the collision between the plate and the steel ball is evaluated by comparing the numerical results with experimental results for various impact velocities and plate thicknesses. Although the contact force cannot be measured experimentally, the effect of the plate thickness and the plate shape on the contact force is evaluated numerically.