Investigation of sandwich structures with innovative cellular metallic cores under low velocity impact loading

Sandwich panels are widely used for energy absorbing applications in cases of low and high velocity impacts. The core itself is capable of absorbing energy by progressive collapse, while the skins are necessary for uniformly distributing the local vertical load over the impacted area as well as for the introduction of overall panel bending resistance. In the present work, the failure response of sandwich panels with open lattice cellular cores subjected to low velocity impact is investigated. Experimental tests are performed using a mass drop testing machine. Additionally, a three-dimensional finite element model of the sandwich panels-impactor system is developed using commercial Finite Element (FE) codes. The core homogenisation is introduced in order to improve the efficiency of the FE analysis by reducing the computational time. Numerical results correlate well with experimental data, enabling detailed understanding of the parameters affecting the initiation and propagation of impact damage.