Development of a finite element model for the simulation of parabolic impact of sandwich panels

Abstract

Sandwich panels are lightweight structures of two thin high strength facesheets bonded to either side of a thick low density core such as foams and honeycombs. It is necessary to study the impact response of sandwich structures in order to ensure the reliability and safety of these structures. The response of sandwich panels to impact loading is usually studied for impact at normal angle of incidence. In real engineering situations, the structures are more frequently loaded at some oblique angle or with a complex trajectory. It is easy to carry out normal impact tests using devices like the drop tower, but impacts at oblique angles are difficult to characterise experimentally. A tri-dimensional impact device called Hexapod has been developed to experimentally study the impact loading of sandwich plates with a parabolic trajectory. The Hexapod is a modified Gough-Stewart platform that can be moved independently in the six degrees of freedom, corresponding to three translation axes and three rotation axes. In this paper, an approach for modelling the parabolic impact of sandwich structures with thin metallic facesheets and polymer foam core using commercial finite element code LS-DYNA software is presented. The results of the FE model of sandwich panels are compared with experimental data in terms of the time history of vertical and horizontal components of force. A comparison of the strain history obtained from Digital Image Correlation and LS-Dyna model are also presented.