MECHANICAL SYSTEMS, CLASSICAL MODELS
to the percussion due to the forces which appear only in the interval of percussion (in
the considered case, the usual forces have a contribution of only
2% in what concerns
the percussion). We notice also that the interval of percussion Δ
t is small with respect to
the time in which the mechanical phenomenon takes place and that the displacement Δ
x
can be neglected with respect to the dimensions of the mechanical systems which
intervene; indeed, if we assume, e.g., that the body modelled by the particle
P is of
steel, then its volume would have approximately
3
0.001282 m , so that, for any of its
form, it would have dimensions much greater that Δ
x (moreover, the particle modelling
implies the neglecting of the dimensions of the body, so much the more the neglecting
of the displacement Δ
x).
Fig. 13.2 Internal percussions of two particles
The interval of collision is called also interval of percussion. The forces which
appear in the interval of percussion and which have a great intensity (provoking great
variations of the momentum), in a very short interval of time (the percussion interval),
are called percussive forces, the other forces (the weight of bodies, the elastic forces,
the resistance of the air etc.) being usual (non-percussive) forces. Therefore, the
percussive forces as well as the percussion interval are thus difficult to estimate; we can
put better in evidence the mechanical phenomenon with the aid of the percussion
defined by the formula (10.1.40). Thus, the two quantities (a vector and a scalar one), of
very different order of magnitude, are replaced by a vector quantity of a mean order of
magnitude. Because the percussions are obtained starting from the percussive forces,
these ones can be classified analogously. We distinguish thus between given percussive
forces and constraint percussive forces, as well as between external percussive forces
and internal percussive forces. Obviously, in case of a mechanical system, starting from
the internal forces
F
ij
and F
i
, which represent the actions of the particles
i
P and
P ,
respectively, one upon the other, having as support the straight line
ij
PP and being
linked by the relation (1.1.81), we can define the internal percussions
P
ij
of support
ij
PP (
=P
ij i j
PPλ
, λ scalar) and the internal percussion P
i
, respectively, both
percussions being linked by the relation (Fig. 13.2)
+=PP 0
ij ji
; (13.1.2)
corresponding to the relation (2.2.50), the above properties of the internal percussions
(either given or constraint ones) can be expressed in a concise form (the pole
O is
arbitrary)
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