Low-velocity impact testing of foam core sandwich panels

Abstract

Sandwich panels with aluminum facesheets and polyurethane or polystyrene foam core were tested in impact on an Instron Ceast 9340 impact tower with a total mass of 13.15 kg at initial velocities from 1.5 to 4.5 m/s. The faces were made from Al 6082-T6 sheet with a thickness of 1.5 mm and the thickness of the polyurethane panel (Necuron 100 core of density 100 kg/m3 ) and of the polystyrene panel (commercial extruded polystyrene core of density 32 kg/m3 ) were 15 mm, respectively 15 and 22 mm. The important events took place in less than 15 ms. Particularities of the impact response of the panels were observed and discussed. The influence of the speed of impact was analyzed for both types of panels. The contact force variation during impact has a different evolution as being modified by the core behavior.