Effect of the multiple projectile on the low-velocity impact response of CNTs reinforced beam

Abstract

PurposeThe main objective of this article is to develop a theoretical formulation for predicting the response of CNTs reinforced beam under multiple impactors with general boundary conditions, using first-order shear deformation beam theory.Design/methodology/approachThe rule of mixtures is implemented to derive the material properties of the beam. The nonlinear Hertz contact law is applied for simulation between impactors and the surface of the beam. A combination of approaches includes energy method, Ritz method and generalized Lagrange equations are used to extract the matrix form of equations of motion. The time-domain solution is obtained using implementing the well-known Runge Kutta 4th order method.FindingsAfter examining the accuracy of the present method, the effects of the number of impactors include one impactor, and three impactors in various CNTs volume fraction are studied for CNTs reinforced beam with clamped-clamped, clamped-free and simply supported boundary conditions under the low-velocity impact. The most important finding of this article is that contact force and beam indentation at the middle of the beam in the case of one impactor are greater than those reported in the case of three impactors.Originality/valueThis article fulfills an identified need to study how CNTs reinforced beam behaviour with general boundary conditions under multiple low-velocity impacts can be enabled.