Impact Loads:

If a body that possesses kinetic energy by virtue of its motion strikes an elastic member and it is brought to rest, it must be conservatively supposed that all the kinetic energy of the body is converted into strain energy in the member. Evenly, if the body falls from a certain height, the potential energy that the body has lost or the kinetic energy gained by the body shall be converted into strain energy in the member. Such a loading where there is a transfer of kinetic energy to strain energy is termed as impact loading.