signup

PhysicsStackExchangeisaquestionandanswersiteforactiveresearchers,academicsandstudentsofphysics.It's
100%free,noregistrationrequired.

login

Calculatingforceabsorbedbycompressionofamaterial(i.e.rubber)PhysicsStackExchange

18/03/2015

tour

help

Takethe2minutetour

Calculatingforceabsorbedbycompressionofamaterial(i.e.rubber)
SayIwastryingtodesignpaddingtoabsorbimpactsusingpolymersorsimilarmaterials,suchasrubber.Ihaveagoodunderstandingofany
relevantphysics,mostlikely,butIwouldn'tknowwheretostartincalculatingthedegreeofimpactthatcanbeabsorbedbyamaterialasa
functionofthedimensions,density,properties,velocity,forces,etc.oforactingonthematerial.Notethefollowingpoints:
Thematerialshouldnotbepermanentlydeformedbytheimpactmorethannegligibly.
Thematerialisexpectedtobeeitheronechunkoraseriesofthinlayers,whicheverismoreeffective,atotaloflessthan10cmthick.
Theobjectbeingprotectedwillhaveasmoothbutcurvedsurface,tosomedegree.Anycalculusthisfactintroducesisfinebyme.
Impactsarevertical.
materialscience stressstrain absorption

forces

askedNov7'13at0:22
TheEnvironmentalist
253
2 7

PhysicsStackExchangeworksbestwithJavaScriptenabled

1Answer
letmeassumethatthereisaforceduetoimpactfromafallingobjectmass(M)fromcertainheight
h
Onceithitsthepadding,itcontinuestodescendbyanamount(u)untilalltheimpactenergyis
absorbed.Ifyouknowthemassofthefallingstructure,youcancalculatethestrainrequiredto
arrestit.Thedeformationofthestructure,throughthedistance(h)isdeterminedbytheelastic
deformationofthestructureitfallsupon.Ipresumethat,oncetheelasticlimitofthestructureis
exceeded,thestructurewillfail,likelythroughbuckling,orcertainlythroughplasticdeformation.
Therecertainlycanbealargeamountofenergyabsorptionthroughplasticdeformation,butthe
forceswewillcalculate,uptotheproportionallimit,thisdeflectionuafterthemasscontactsthe
structureitdeformsthestructurebyanamountthatdependsuponthestiffnessofthestructure.
Treatthestructurelikeaspringofstiffnessk.Thenweknowthattheforceisrelatedtodeflection,
u,through
thespringstiffnessusing:F=K*uIfwedividebythecrosssectionalarea,weobtain:
F/A=k/a*u
Weobtainarelationbetweenu,theheight/thicknessofthepadding,L,andthestrain,:
U=Lwehavethedeflectionofthepadding,undertheinfluenceofaforce,F,wecanrelatethe
impactenergytothedeformationstoextracttheimpactforce,F.Inordertoarrestthefallingmass
wemustabsorballtheenergyofthatmass.Themassfallsthroughatotaldropheightofh+u,so
theenergythatmustbeabsorbedisgivenby:
U=mg(h+u)ReplaceubyL
U=mg(h+L)
Thisenergyisabsorbedthrudeformationofthestructure,approximatelyuptoelasticlimit.
U(elastic)=1/2***A*L
=F/A
mg(h+L)=1/2*F/A**A*L
ifwesimplifybyeliminatingA,andmultiplyby2,anddividingbyandL,weget
F=2*m*g((d/L)+1)
Thisistheanticipatedimpactforceforstrainsuptoachosenvalue.Itisreasonabletoassumethat
strainsthatareverynearyieldrepresenttheendofrecoverabledeformation.thenotation*
indicatesmultiplication(product).
answeredNov7'13at7:06
nemu
479
2

16

http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/83683/calculatingforceabsorbedbycompressionofamaterialierubber

1/1