Structural intensity study of plates under low-velocity impact

The transmissions of transient energy flow and dynamic transient response of plate structures under low-velocity impact are presented. The structural intensity approach is used to study the transient dynamic characteristics of plate structures under low-velocity impact. In the dynamic impact response analysis, nine-node degenerated shell elements with assumed shear and membrane strain fields are adopted to model the target and impactor. The dynamic contact-impact algorithm and the governing equations for both the target and impactor are derived based on the updated Lagrangian approach. Explicit integration algorithm has been adopted in the time integration process. The novel structural intensity streamline representation is introduced to interpret energy flow paths for transient dynamic response of plates under low-velocity impact. The effects of plates with and without structural damping on the energy flow and energy path are discussed. Numerical results, including contact force, deflection histories and transient energy flow vectors as well as structural intensity streamlines, show that the present method and representation are an efficient approach for exploring dynamic response for plate structures subjected to low-velocity impact.