Force reconstruction for low velocity impacts using force and acceleration measurements

Abstract

Contact and impact dynamics modeling of rigid bodies continues to be an intensive research area, as new applications of contact dynamics simulation develop in engineering practice. Yet, relatively few studies are dedicated to the experimental investigation of rigid-body impacts and associated issues. In this manuscript we report our findings for a sphere to flat impact experiments conducted for a range of low impact velocities, such as those that may be encountered in multibody systems. A unique feature of our investigation is that the impact forces between the impacting objects are reconstructed from force and acceleration measurements, the latter obtained from an accelerometer mounted on the impacted surface body. It is noted that when the impacted body is free to move during impact, it may experience high accelerations which must be taken into account. The reconstructed impact force responses are compared to those predicted with the dynamics model of the experimental scenario, which in turn is based on a nonlinear compliant model of the impact force. The experiments, in addition to generating novel impact measurements, provide a number of insights into both the study of impacts and the impact response.