Triangular corrugated sandwich panels under longitudinal bending

Abstract

A corrugated sandwich panel consists of two face-sheets and a corrugated core, which is made of sheets that are folded into a corrugated shape. In this paper, the mechanical response of aluminium corrugated sandwich panels subjected to longitudinal loading along its middle line is investigated experimentally, numerically, and theoretically. A parametric study is conducted using ABAQUS/Explicit to examine the effects of geometric configurations (i.e., corrugation angle, core height, and core web thickness) on the deformation mode, peak force, and specific energy absorption (SEA) of panels. Two major deformation modes (Mode I and Mode II) are observed. The sandwich panels that deformed in Mode I has higher peak force and energy absorption ability. When the density of core remains the same, the energy dissipated by sandwich panels can be tailored by varying the geometry of the core. Thicker core webs result in greater energy absorption. Based on the experimental and simulation observations, a theoretical analysis using energy method is carried out to predict the crushing force of panels during large deformation.