That seems non trivial since you're actually tracking several
different variables, and it sounds like you don't know at least two of
them:

What was hit
 - dimensions
 - deformation/hardness/malliability

Of course you can take what you know (how much energy does it require
to deform my rim in this manner) but that could be caused by the tire
hitting an object straight on going 5 miles per hour if the object it
hit absorbs no energy and your vehicle weighs 2 tons - the total
vehicle energy going into hitting the tire.

Alternately it could have occured at 90 miles per hour with a
particular undulation in the road followed by a 1" pothole where the
total energy in the vehicle is several magnitudes greater than the
energy that went into the tire.

-Adam


On 5/21/06, Gerhard Fiedler <lists@connectionbrazil.com> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I have a pretty badly damaged (steel) rim -- a nice, deep dent, about 10 cm
> -- and would like to get an idea of the speed involved in the event.
>
> Can anybody point me to something that would help me estimate a minimum
> impact speed that would have been necessary to cause this deformation?
>
> I guess something that would help me is a collection of pictures of damaged
> rims with a brief description of how it happened and at what speed.
>
> Thanks,
> Gerhard
>
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