Comparative Performance of Stiffened Sandwich Foam Panels under Impulsive Loading

Abstract

Modeling and numerical simulation of foam sandwich panels subjected to impulsive loading are presented. The sandwich panels consist of steel sheets at front and back with two varieties of foam cores in between. Stiffeners are provided at the back sheet for improved response. The dynamic response of the stiffened steel plate (SSP), sandwich foam panel (SFP), and stiffened sandwich foam panel (SSFP) are compared. The foam material modeling accounts for elastic-plastic behavior with volumetric hardening. The finite element–based numerical simulation for dynamic analysis is performed using a combination of shell and solid elements for sheets and foam, respectively. Central point displacements caused from the impulsive load of peak pressure of 0.7 MPa and lasting for 15 ms applied uniformly to the sandwich panels are studied. The analysis is carried out with an objective of understanding the effects of foam thickness, type of foam, and the stiffener configurations. The results obtained indicate that the SSFP considerably increase the resistance to impulsive loading compared with the SSP and SFP.