IMO, that is the question of the ages. I too am curious about such things. I have done a brief amount of searching and have found very little regarding impact, specifically stresses caused by impact. I believe this is because it is an extremely complex phenomena that is dependent on the specific design situation. I also believe it is necessary, cheaper, easier... to do testing with representative models and prototypes and full up designs... think automotive crash tests.
About the only direction I can give you is the textbook Fundamentals of Machine Component Design by Juvinall and Marshek. It has a 25 page chapter on impact. There are also a couple of papers referenced by this chapter:
Rinehart, John S., and John Pearson, Behavior of Metals under Impulsive Loads, The American Society for Metals, Cleveland, 1954.
-and-
Vigness, Irwin, and W.P. Welch,Shock and Impact Considerations in Design, in ASME Handbook: Metals Engineering--Design, 2nd ed., Oscar J. Horger (ed.), McGraw-Hill, New York, 1965
Let me know if any of these sources help you. I have never needed to design for impact, but am interested in the topic.
Good Luck.
-Dustin
Professional Engineer
Certified SolidWorks Professional