Abstract
Impact resistance and energy absorbing capability are of great interest in the design of composite sandwich structures. This paper experimentally studies damage, failure and energy absorption properties of foam core sandwich panels with aluminum and glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) facesheets subjected to low velocity impact. Tests are performed using a drop weight impact tower at different impact velocities. The energy absorbing capabilities of aluminum and composite facesheet sandwich panels with PUR and PS foam core are evaluated by means of absorbed energy-time histories and by specific parameters as normalized absorbed energy, specific energy absorption, and crush force efficiency. Stiffer panels behave better at lower impact velocities, while more ductile ones do better if impact energy is increased.
Highlights
O ne of the main design drivers of modern engineering is weight reduction whilst still ensuring high level of operational safety
The damage and failure mechanism and energy absorption properties of foam core sandwich panels with aluminum and glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) facesheets subjected to low velocity impact are investigated
This paper experimentally investigated the low velocity impact behavior of foam core sandwich panels with aluminum and glass fiber reinforced composite facesheets
Summary
O ne of the main design drivers of modern engineering is weight reduction whilst still ensuring high level of operational safety. As mentioned by Feng and Aymerich [15] the low velocity impact can develop various damage patterns in sandwich composites as resulting from different failure mechanisms as: matrix cracking, fiber fracture, face-core debonding through delaminations, and core crushing. Zhu et al [28] studied through theoretical, experimental and numerical methods the damage and failure mode maps of composite sandwich panels subjected to quasi-static indentation and low velocity impact. Sun et al [31] studied the effect of skin thickness, core thickness, core height and cell size on indentation characteristics, such as peak forces, failure modes and energy absorption, for sandwich panels with aluminum facesheets and honeycomb core. The damage and failure mechanism and energy absorption properties of foam core sandwich panels with aluminum and GFRP facesheets subjected to low velocity impact are investigated. Damage characteristics are evaluated by measuring the damaged area or depth of indentation of the impactor and energy absorption is evaluated by using specific parameters as: normalized absorbed energy, specific energy absorption and crush force efficiency
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