Parameters Affecting the Transient Response of an Impacting Beam

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.