Determining effective contact stiffness between striker and composite shell

Abstract

An approach to determining the effective contact stiffness between a striker and composite shell is presented. The effective contact stiffness is obtained via impact tests in conjunction with an analytic impact function recently presented by the authors. The relationship between the effective contact stiffness and the contact coefficients defined by Hertzian contact laws is described. Impact tests are conducted on simply-supported glass/epoxy cylindrical and ogival shells. The effective contact stiffnesses for these shells impacted by a solid striker are obtained using the present method. In addition, effects of impact mass and impact velocity on the contact force are examined and discussed.