Dynamic response of composite sandwich plates subjected to time-dependent pressure pulses

The dynamic response of orthotropic sandwich composite plates impacted by time-dependent external blast pulses is studied by use of numerical techniques. The theory is based on classical sandwich plate theory including the large deformation effects, such as geometric non-linearities, in-plane stiffness and inertias, and shear deformation. The equations of motion for the plate are derived by the use of the virtual work principle. Approximate solutions are assumed for the space domain and substituted into the equations of motion. Then the Galerkin Method is used to obtain the non-linear differential equations in the time domain. The finite difference method is applied to solve the system of coupled non-linear equations. The results of theoretical analyses are obtained and compared with ANSYS results. Effects of the face sheet number, as well as those related to the ply-thickness, core thickness, geometrical non-linearities, and of the aspect ratio are investigated. Detailed analyses of the influence of different type of pressure pulses on dynamic response are carried out. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.