Dynamic Response of Nano‐Scale Core‐Shell Rubber Toughened Sandwich Composites

Abstract

ABSTRACTHigh‐pressure shock performance of sandwich composites consisting of nano‐scale core‐shell rubber (CSR) toughened E‐glass Vinyl‐Ester face‐sheets and CorecellTM A500 (Gurit (USA) Inc., Bristol, Rhode Island, USA) foam was studied using a shock tube apparatus. The core material and thickness, as well as overall specimen dimensions, were held constant, with the only difference arising in the resin system used during the infusion. The non‐core‐shell rubber toughened resin system (Non‐CSR) consisted of a vinyl‐ester resin only, while the CSR toughened resin consisted of the same vinyl‐ester resin, but with Kane Ace MX 153 CSR particles added to the vinyl‐ester resin system. Prior to the shock tube experiments, the quasi‐static and dynamic constitutive behaviour of the face‐sheets (tensile/compressive) and foam (compressive) was evaluated. During the shock tube testing, a high‐speed photography system coupled with the optical technique of digital image correlation was utilized to capture the real‐time deformation process, as well as mechanisms of failure in the sandwich composites. Post‐mortem analysis was also carried out to evaluate the overall shock performance of these configurations. Results indicated that adding CSR particles to sandwich composites aids in dispersing the initial shock wave loading, thus reducing the overall deflection, strain, and velocity and improving the overall blast resistance of the structure.