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J.E.

Akin,RiceUniversity,Mech403

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ImpactLoadFactors
Oftenadesignerhasamass,withaknownvelocity,hittinganobjectandtherebycausingasuddenly
appliedimpactload.Inastaticstressanalysisthestaticforce(weight)ofthemassmustbeincreased
byanImpactFactorsoastoobtainagoodapproximationofthemaximumdeflectionandstress.For
hardelasticbodiestheimpactfactorisgreaterthanorequaltotwo.

StaticforcePequivalenttoadroppedweightWattheendofacantileverbeam
Inthestudyofthemechanicsofsolids(Mech311),anenergybalanceapproximationisusedtoestimate
therequiredstaticload.Seethehelpfileonimpactforcesfordetails.Inthecaseofaweightdropped
fromaheightofhtheimpactfactorisn = 1 + _1 +
2 h
6
stctic
,whereo
stutc
isthestaticdeflectionofan
objectatthepointwheretheweightisplaced.Therearehandbookequationsforthestaticdeflections
ofbarsandbeams.Ingeneralthestaticdeflectioniso
stutc
= w k ,wherekisthestiffnessofthe
memberinthedirectionoftheweight.Foranyobject,afiniteelementstaticstressanalysiscanbe
probedtoobtainthestaticdeflection,inthedirectionoftheforce,atthepointofloading.
Here,bothafiniteelementsimulationandaTKSolverworksheetwillbothbeusedtoestimatethe
impactfactorforaweightdroppedonthemiddleofasimplysupportedbeamofrectangularcross
section.Thoseexamplesarefollowedwithamechanicsofmaterialssolutionforcomparison.Themass
of80kg(W=784.8N)isdropped10mmontothecenterofabeamoflength1.2m.Thebeamissteel
(E=200GPA)withacrosssectionbaseof60mmandaheightof30mm.
TheSolidWorksmodelbeginswiththecrosssection,extrudesittothebeamlength,andaddssplitlines
tothesolidtoallowloadingatthemiddleand/orquarterpoints.

J.E.Akin,RiceUniversity,Mech403

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Thememberispinnedattherightandsupportedwithrollersontheleft.Thestaticweightisappliedat
thecenterpoint.

Afterassigningthematerialproperties,thestaticdeflectionatthepointofloadingisobtained:

Itsvalue,0.001049mm,issubstitutedintotheaboveequationtoyield
n = 1 + _1 +
0.02
0.001049
= S.48,
sotheactualstaticforceneedstobeP=nW=4,301N.Applyingthatloadgivesamaximumhorizontal
stressofabout143MPa.


J.E.Akin,RiceUniversity,Mech403

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TheTKSolverworksheetbeginsbywritingasetofrules(frommechanicsofsolidsanddynamics):

Theinitialinputvariables(below)wereincompletesinceneitherthestaticdeflectionnormember
stiffnesswasknown.Thus,severalruleswerenotsatisfied.

J.E.Akin,RiceUniversity,Mech403

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Therewereenoughinputsprovidedtocalculatethestiffnessofabarandtwotypesofbeams.Sincethe
weightisdroppedonthecenterofasimplebeam,thevalueofthatstiffness(7.5e5N/m)wascopied
fromtheoutputcolumn,ofk_mid,andpastedintotheinputcolumnofk.Then,thenextsolvegivesthe
desiredresults.
J.E.Akin,RiceUniversity,Mech403

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Nowthestaticdeflection(1.05e3m)matchesthefiniteelementstudywell,asdoestheimpactfactorof
about5.5.Hadtheweightbeenheldatthebeamsurfacewithouttoughingit(h=0)andthenreleased
thatcalculationgivestheimpactfactorequaltotwo.

Hadtheweightbeendroppedontheendofacantileverbeamofthesamesize(k=46.9e3N/m)the
inputofthatstiffnessvaluegivesanimpactfactorofabout36.

J.E.Akin,RiceUniversity,Mech403

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