In the interests of generality, a non-dimensional formulation
has been used. The system is characterised by only one non-
dimensional parameter
where R is the radius of the contact surface, k is the radius
of gyration and ~ is Poisson's ratio for the material. The
only independent variable at input is the non-dimensional
local angle of incidence, ~i, of the subsequent impacting
region where
VX is the local tangential velocity of the body relative to
the half-space and Vz I is the corresponding normal velocity
of approach.
Figure 1 shows the relation
between the local angles of
reflection and incidence,
~2 and ~i, respectively
for a body which is a thin
diametral slice cut from a
sphere. In this case
X = 1.2558 (9 = O.28).
In contrast to the
prediction of simple theory,
~2, is negative for low
values of $1- Moreover,
the range of ~I, over
which gross-slip can be
expected throughout the
cycle, exceeds that from
simple theory,