Dynamic responses of metal foam sandwich beam under repeated impacts considering impact location and face thickness distribution

Abstract

Owing to the excellent mechanical performance, the metal foam sandwich structures have potential applications in the design of protective equipment, which can improve the impact resistance of engineering structures. In this paper, the nonlinear finite element model is employed to investigate the dynamic behaviors of metal foam sandwich beam (MFSB), and the accuracy of the finite element method is verified by repeated impact tests. In addition, the effects of impact location and face thickness on the dynamic behavior of the MFSB are examined. Results show that, as the distance from the impact position to the middle span of the beam increases, the deflections of face sheets decrease gradually, and the loading and unloading stiffness increases. The thickness of front face sheet affects the depth of indentation, while the total thickness of the front and back face sheets decides the overall deformation, loading and unloading stiffness. Overall, as the impact number increases, the influences of impact location and face thickness on the dynamic behavior of MFSB enhances gradually.