Steady State Stress in a Coated Infinite Half-Space Subjected to a Moving Load

This research investigates the use of coatings to mitigate the stress distribution into an infinite half-space. High energy impact phenomenon at velocities exceeding the speed of sound is an important area of interest to the Air Force Research Laboratory. Holloman Air Force Base's High Speed Test Track sustains significant damage due to this phenomenon. In this thesis, the track system and coating are modeled analytically with equations of motion in terms of linear displacements. Coating thickness and material properties of epoxy or polymer laminates are investigated to understand their affect of stress distribution in the rail. An analytic solution is used to verify a finite difference method. It is found that due to limitations in coating thickness of the track system, this property has no significant affect on the stress distribution. However, the shear modulus of the material is found to have a significant affect representing the possible onset of material failure through the consideration of the combined stress field at the coating-rail interface.