Ray analysis and punching problems for stretched elastic plates.

The present paper presents a ray analysis for a problem of technical importance in fragmentation studies. The problem is that of suddenly punching a circular hole in either isotropic or transversely isotropic plates subjected to a uniaxial tension field. The ray method, which involves only differentiation, integration, and simple algebra, is shown to be particularly useful in clarifying the propagation process of the resulting unloading waves and obtaining the attendant discontinuities of the various quantities involved. Numerical results obtained from the ray analysis are presented in graphical form and compared with those obtained by more elaborate schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]