Abstract
We study the performances of several numerical methods (Paoli-Schatzman, Newmark, Runge-Kutta) in order to compute periodic behavior of a simple one-degree-of-freedom impacting oscillator. Some theoretical results are given and numerical tests are performed. We compare mathematical and numerical results using our simple example exhibiting either finite or infinite number of impacts per period. Comparison of exact and numerical solution provides a practical order for each scheme. We conclude about the use of the different numerical methods.