UNDERSTANDING IMPACT THROUGH CONTINUOUS MEDIUM VIBRATIONS

摘要

We write a model for the impact of a slender bar making an angle θ with a rigid foundation, starting from first principles. We obtain some explicit solutions, with the help of asymptotics and simplifying assumptions. We compare the corresponding results to the experiments of Hurmuzlu and Stoianovici, and we obtain good qualitative agreement in all the cases and good quantitative agreement for 5 out of 8 of the bars in their experiments. We rule out the role of inharmonicity due to heterogeneity as a cause for loss of macroscopic energy when the bar makes the angle π/2 with the rigid foundation, concluding thus that this loss is mainly due to plastic deformation.