The permanent deformation of a cantilever struck transversely at its tip

Abstract

An analysis is given for the deformation of a cantilever made from a rigid-plastic material struck transversely at its tip by a moving mass. Two special cases are found to be of interest: mass of striker large, and mass of striker small. Experiments were carried out on model mild-steel cantilevers under these two extreme conditions: in the one case the striker was a falling weight, in the other a rifle bullet. The theoretical and experimental results are compared, and it is shown that there is good agreement at points remote from the impact, but that prediction of local damage depends on accurate definition of the conditions of striking.