Structural impact damage of metal honeycomb sandwich plates

Abstract

Dynamic response of sandwich plates with a metal honeycomb core under low-velocity impact has been investigated. Experiments of the fully clamped sandwich plates subjected to low-velocity impact of the drop-hammer with a hemispherical nose have been conducted and plastic failure modes have been measured. Structural damage mechanism of sandwich plates has been identified and explored. It is found that finite element simulations of these experiments are in good agreement with the experimental measurements. Analytical solutions for permanent deflections and peak impact forces are derived and capture the experimental results with reasonable accuracy. It is shown that the impact positions have important influence on the dynamic response of sandwich plates subjected to low-velocity impact. The impact resistance of sandwich plate decreases from the central position to the non-central positions.