The Impact of Arbitrary Oriented Ellipsoidal Shell With a Barrier: Analytical Study

In this paper, a closed form solution of an arbitrary oriented hollow elastic ellipsoidal shell impacting with an elastic flat barrier is presented. It is assumed that the shell is thin under the low speed impact. Due to the arbitrary orientation of the shell, while the pre-impact having a linear speed, the postimpact involves rotational and translational speed. Analytical solution for this problem is based on Hertzian theory (Johnson, W., 1972, Impact Strength of Materials, University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, Edward Arnold Publication, London) and the Vella’s analysis (Vella et al., 2012, “Indentation of Ellipsoidal and Cylindrical Elastic Shells,” Phys. Rev. Lett., 109, p. 144302) in conjunction with Newtonian method. Due to the nonlinearity and complexity of the impact equation, classical numerical solutions cannot be employed. Therefore, a linearization method is proposed and a closed form solution for this problem is accomplished. The closed form solution facilitates a parametric study of this type of problems. The closed form solution was validated by an explicit finite element method (FEM). Good agreement between the closed form solution and the FE results is observed. Based on the analytical method the maximum total deformation of the shell, the maximum transmitted force, the duration of the contact, and the rotation of the shell after the impact were determined. Finally, it was concluded that the closed form solutions were trustworthy and appropriate to investigate the impact of inclined elastic ellipsoidal shells with an elastic barrier.