Impact Response Analysis on Orthogrid Stiffened Composite Sandwich Plates Embedded with Viscoelastic Material Considering Temperature and Moisture Effects

Abstract

In this work, a new composite sandwich plate including a viscoelastic material (VEM) filling orthogrid core is proposed. Taking temperature and moisture effects into consideration, the dynamic ‘analysis for impact responses of this structure is presented. The equivalent material properties of the composite core layer are calculated using the Halpin–Tsai model. In order to model the impact force between the impactor and the structure, the modified Hertz contact law is utilized. The governing equations of the structure are derived by employing the Reddy’s higher-order shear deformation theory (HSDT) and Hamilton’s principle. Then the governing equations are solved through the Galerkin method with the aid of the Newmark direct integration scheme. After verifying the reliability and accuracy of this model, the effects of temperature, moisture, initial velocity of the impactor and boundary condition on the contact force and central deflection of the structure are discussed in detail. It has been demonstrated that changes of environmental temperature and moisture play a significant effect on the damping characteristics and impact responses of the composite sandwich plates.