Torsional impact of elastic spheres (Q1331405)

The collision of two geometrically and materially similar elastic spheres, which are rotating around the common normal of their contact area, is analysed. The torsional rotation at the end of impact is obtained from numerical integration of the angular equation of motion and the contact law. The Nassi-Shneiderman diagrams of the contact algorithm and the impact algorithm are presented. Some results are plotted and compared with an asymptotic theory for complete adhesion and complete sliding in the contact area.