Dynamic response of sandwich beam with star-shaped reentrant honeycomb core subjected to local impulsive loading

The star-shaped reentrant honeycomb produces lateral shrinkage but also rotation under compression. With the consideration of such interesting deformation characteristics, the dynamic deformation evolution of the sandwich beam with star-shaped reentrant honeycomb core (SSRHC) was carried out for the first time. In this experiment, the aluminum foam projectile was used to produce local impulsive loading on the sandwich beam to research failure/deformation modes and deformation evolution of the SSRHC. The experimental results demonstrated the simultaneous shrinking and rotating deformations in the core. Finite element model (FEM) was employed to capture the dynamic mechanical response of panels and SSRHC on account of experimental results. Numerical results illustrated that the face panel moved toward the loading area in the early stage of impact, and local shrinkage or expansion was found within different regions of the star honeycomb cores during the entire compression process. In addition, it was found that the rotational deformation of the star honeycomb cells mainly occurred in the local indentation stage of the sandwich beam.