Impact Mechanics

Valuable for both professionals and advanced undergraduate and graduate students, this second edition builds upon foundation courses in dynamics and strength of materials, developing several different methodologies for analysing collisions between structures, new general methods of solving multibody impact, and including new chapters and examples.

Emphasising non-penetrating collisions, the second edition of Impact Mechanics develops several different methodologies for analysing collisions between structures - from rigid body theory for structures that are stiff and compact, to vibration and wave analyses for flexible structures. A valuable reference for both professionals and advanced undergraduate and graduate students, the book builds upon foundation courses in dynamics and strength of materials. Worked examples and end-of-chapter homework problems are drawn both from industry and sports such as golf, baseball, soccer and billiards. New chapters present a generalised theory of multi-body impact, as well as analyses of visco-elastic and visco-plastic impact. Effects of local compliance on impact dynamics are more generally described, and additional examples illustrating effects of friction during impact between bodies in either collinear or eccentric configurations are included.