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Tips & Tricks - designing for impact loads


Impact loading occurs in a wide range of situations, especially in mechanical machinery where there is direct impact or sudden application of the loads. However, as we saw in our previous article regarding weld design, bigger is not always better, and does not always result in proportional gains in strength.

The fundamental rule of impact design is energy absorption, and is based on using the maximum volume of material to carry the loads. If possible this maximum stress should be uniform across every cubic mm of the section. As you will see below, there are some simple things you can do to add margins to your impact strength.

A beam can be designed for constant bending stress along its length by making the cross-section depth variable. The outer fibre is stressed to the maximum value for the entire length of the member, which increases the energy absorption by a factor of 2 compared to a constant cross-section beam!

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Designing for impact loads using a variable beam depth
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Achieving uniform stress is an area where Motovated Design's professional FEA services pay dividends. Our understanding of these basic principles and advanced tools enable us to improve your product's strength and reliability while reducing costs, weight and warranty hassles.


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Engineering (ĕn´je-nîr´ĭng) n.

  1. The application of math and
    physics to problem solving.
  2. The design and construction
    of complex structures.