Deflection and fracture of a clamped plate under lateral indentation by a sphere

The objective of this paper is to investigate the deflection and fracture of a clamped plate with different shapes (circular, square, and rectangular) under lateral indentation by a spherical indenter. A semi-analytical approach was established to predict the plate failure and the energy absorption up to this point. A relationship between the ratio of R/a0 (R is the radii of indenter, a0 is the radii of circular plate or the half short side length of rectangular plate) and the ratio of ρ/a0 (ρ is the radii of intersection line which the paraboloid transition into the logarithmic surface) is established by using test data. The relationship can be used for predicting the plate deflection and determine the force-displacement curve. The results of the theoretical model compare well with experimental results.