Experimental and numerical study on the low-velocity impact response of thermoplastic composite corrugated sandwich panels

Abstract

Composite corrugated sandwich structures have a wide range of applications in aerospace field, and the loss of structural load carrying capacity due to low-velocity impact damage has become one of the main threats in practical applications. In this study, the impact resistance of corrugated sandwich panels prepared from thermoplastic composites (TPC) under low-velocity impact loading was investigated. Through a series of drop-weight experiments and finite element simulations, the impact response process and damage morphology of the thermoplastic composite sandwich panels were obtained, and the effects of different impact energy and different core arrangements on the energy absorption performance of the structure were explored. Finally, a parametric analysis of the perpendicularly-arranged double-layered corrugated sandwich panel was carried out. The results show that thermoplastic composite sandwich panels exhibit an overall collapse response rather than localised damage, and the structure maintains good integrity and stability. The perpendicularly-arranged sandwich panels rely on the orthogonal configuration characteristics to provide optimum impact load carrying capacity, their impact resistance can be further improved by increasing the thickness of top face-sheet and reducing the thickness of the middle face-sheet at the same time. This provides a basis for promoting the application of TPC in engineering and the design of sandwich structures.