A low-velocity impact phenomenon between a beam and a sphere was simulated. The non-linear partial differential equation of the impact process was developed on the basis of Hertzian contact model combined with a large displacement dynamic equation formulation.
Impacts in both transversal and axial directions of a beam were studied. Several types of boundary conditions were considered. The results of a transverse impact for a simply supported case was compared with Timoshenko's solution in the literature, obtained under a small displacement assumption.
The impact process and the subsequent behavior of each case were presented in detail, with specific attentions in the rigid body motions. The propagation of a deformation field seemed well simulated. The elaborate formulation of the dynamics as treated here, however, is found to be computationally very time-consuming and the time simulated has been limited only to the short initial interval. Thus, in this method, an extensive simulation effort is unavailable if a complete motion over a global cycle is required, for example, in the case of a hinged beam.
