Investigation of blast resistance of cladding with square dome-shaped Kirigami folded structures as core

Abstract

Abstract. This study examines the response of Square Dome-shaped Kirigami (SDK) structures when used as a core in cladding systems under blast loading conditions. A numerical model of the SDK foldcore is developed on the commercially available software ABAQUS. The SDK foldcore made of an aluminium sheet is placed between two rigid plates. The model is put under a quasi-static compression test to simulate the crushing effect and the results are used to calibrate the simulation with the experimental data from the literature. To evaluate the blast resistance of the system, four different levels of blast loading conditions are applied to the top of the top plate using Trinitrotoluene (TNT) explosive, with a distance of 1500 mm from the centre of the top plate. The structural response of the SDK foldcore is then compared with that of a traditional Square Honey Comb (SHC) core under the same blast loading conditions. This study aims to evaluate the relative performance of the two different cores in terms of their ability to mitigate the effects of blast loading. The SDK foldcore demonstrated the capability to disperse blast energy over a wider area, thus decreasing the stress the cladding system experienced. The results of the study show that SDK foldcore provides a significant improvement in energy absorption, with a maximum reduction of 70% in the peak load transmitted compared to the case with no cladding. The peak load transmitted by the SDK foldcore is much more consistent than the SHC core, even under different blast loading conditions. This is due to its favourable plastic deformation, which prevents complete densification. These results suggest that the SDK folded structure has better performance in mitigating the effects of blast loading.