Research on dynamic response characteristics of CFRP/Al HC SPs subjected to high-velocity impact

Abstract

CFRP/Al HC SPs (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic/Aluminum Honeycomb Sandwich Panels)composite structures are widely used in the aerospace and many other fields due to their excellent performances. In order to reveal profoundly the dynamic response characteristics of CFRP/Al HC SPs composite structure under high-velocity impact loading, the experiments about aluminum honeycomb core and CFRP/Al HC SPs composite structure impacted by high-velocity projectiles have been performed by using a one-stage light gas gun loading and a high-speed camera systems, respectively. The whole physical process of collision is analyzed by using TEMA software which is provided by high-speed camera's manufacturer, and the pictures and related physical parameters of the projectile passing through the different layers at the key moments are extracted based on the set frame rate of the video. Meanwhile, the ABAQUS/Explicit module was used to conduct numerical simulation under the same conditions as the experiments, and extracting the pictures and related physical parameters during the projectile penetrating through aluminum honeycomb core and the sandwich panels at the different key moments. The results show that the durations of action for the projectile impacting the Al HC core and the CFRP/Al HC SPs at the velocity about 280 m/s were 86 μs and 240 μs in experiments, respectively, and the durations of action were 90.7 μs and 236.2 μs at the same experimental conditions in numerical simulation, which were basically consistent comparing the experimental to simulated results. Moreover, more than 70% for the kinetic energy of the projectile consumed by the sandwich panels was attributed to the front panel and the aluminum honeycomb core during the entire impact process, and all these have verified the reliability of the numerical simulation. Keywords: CFRP/Al HC SPs, ABAQUS/Explicit, Duration of action between projectile and target, Energy absorption