Affiliations: Key Laboratory of Transportation Tunnel Engineering,
Ministry of Education, School of Civil Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, SiChuan, China | Civil Engineering, The University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS, USA
Note: [] Corresponding author: Elizabeth K. Ervin, Civil Engineering, The
University of Mississippi, Box 1848, University, MS, 38677 USA. Tel.: +1 662
915 5618; Fax: +1 662 915 5523; E-mail: eke@olemiss.edu
Abstract: Impact causes shock waves that may be unexpected and damaging. A
computationally efficient impact model with a generic beam which is discrete in
time and continuous in space was undertaken; an Euler-Bernoulli beam with
adjustable boundary conditions and variable contact location is numerically
studied under a pulse loading. Experiments on a cantilever beam were carried
out to verify the effects of influential parameters. A half-sine pulse
excitation was applied through a mechanical shaker, and the deflection was
captured by a high speed camera. Numerous test cases were conducted that varied
pulse duration, pulse amplitude, and clearance. Decreasing the pulse duration
lowers all deflection amplitudes, but the time in contact is insensitive. No
gap causes minimal beam response, and increasing gap generates greater
deflection. Representative test cases were selected for validating the
theoretical model. When comparing numerical simulation with experimental
results, satisfactory agreement for amplitude and duration can be reached even
with raw input parameters. The contribution of this study is the incorporation
of unique pulse loading, changeable boundary conditions, adjustable
contact/impact situations, comprehensive parameter studies, and high speed photography.
