Experimental and numerical analyses on the dynamic response of aluminum foam core sandwich panels subjected to localized air blast loading

This paper presents experimental and numerical investigations into dynamic responses of aluminum foam core sandwich panels subjected to localized air blast loading. It mainly focused on the effects of face-sheet thickness and mass allocation on the deformation responses and energy absorption characteristics. The specimens considered experienced several deformation/failure modes, including localized deformation of front face, large inelastic deformation of back face, core densification and fragmentation and debonding failure. Experimental results show that both the deformation/failure modes and permanent deformation are more sensitive to the variation of front face thickness relative to the one of back face thickness. The optimal mass allocation strategies for the reduction of deformation response are to distribute more mass to front face rather than back face, and to adopt a thick and suitable strength foam core. Numerical simulations reveal that the increase of front face-sheet thickness led to a remarkable decrease on total energy dissipation while the effect of back face thickness was negligible. The mass allocation strategy with a lighter front face could achieve superior capability in total energy absorption regardless of areal density. Moreover, allocating more mass from back face to foam core is an efficient means to further improve the panel energy absorption.