Single and double-layered kirigami corrugated sandwich panels against impact loads

Abstract

The influences of geometric configurations on the impact resistance performances for single and double-layered kirigami corrugated (KC) sandwich panels are investigated in this study. By folding a portion of the cell wall of a conventional corrugated unit, a kirigami corrugate unit is formed with significantly improved resistance, which is then used to form single and double-layered sandwich panels. The numerical model is first constructed and validated against the pendulum impact test results of the KC panel. To evaluate the effect of the geometric configurations on their impact resistance performance, four factors are considered, including the number and location of the fold-ins of the single-layered KC panel, the stacking and layer orientation of the double-layered KC panels. In total, 38 configurations of the panels are numerically studied, and their impact performances including energy absorption, peak and residual back plate deflection, and impact force–displacement curves are evaluated and compared. Up to 84% reduction in the residual back plate deflection is observed for single-layered KC panel compared to the conventional corrugated panel. Superior impact resistance is demonstrated for single-layered KC panels with more fold-ins, especially near the impacting area. It is also found that the stacking configuration and layer orientation are not directly linked to the impact resistance performance of double-layered KC panels. However, enhanced impact resistance could be achieved by arranging the stacking and orientation of the two core layers to provide better supports to the top cores. This work provides general design guidelines for the proposed single and double-layered KC panels.