SPH – Lagrangian study of bird impact on leading edge wing

Experimental bird-strike tests were conducted using a dead chicken of 8lb with a speed of 250kts that hit on leading edge bay in composite material made with aluminium alloy 2024-T3, core panel of honeycomb and GLARE cover plates. A validated simulation methodology has been developed in order to use a reference in further bird test certification procedure on the fin of the C27-J aircraft.     

Modelling of aluminium foam core sandwich panels under impact perforation

Aluminium foam core sandwich panels are good energy absorbers for impact protection applications, such as light-weight structural panels, packing materials and energy absorbing devices. In this study, the high-velocity impact perforation of aluminium foam core sandwich structures was analysed. Sandwich panels with 1100 aluminium face-sheets and closed-cell A356 aluminium alloy foam core were modelled by three-dimensional finite element models. The models were validated with experimental tests by comparing numerical and experimental damage modes, output velocity, ballistic limit and absorbed energy. By this model the influence of foam core and face-sheet thicknesses on the behaviour of the sandwich panel under impact perforation was evaluated.     

A wave propagation model for the high velocity impact response of a composite sandwich panel

A solution methodology to predict the residual velocity of a hemispherical-nose cylindrical projectile impacting a composite sandwich panel at high velocity is presented. The term high velocity impact is used to describe impact scenarios where the projectile perforates the panel and exits with a residual velocity. The solution is derived from a wave propagation model involving deformation and failure of facesheets, through-thickness propagation of shock waves in the core, and through-thickness core shear failure. Equations of motion for the projectile and effective masses of the facesheets and core as the shock waves travel through sandwich panel are derived using Lagrangian mechanics. The analytical approach is mechanistic involving no detail account of progressive damage due to delamination and debonding but changes in the load-bearing resistance of the sandwich panel due to failure and complete loss of resistance from the facesheets and core during projectile penetration. The predicted transient deflection and velocity of the projectile and sandwich panel compared fairly well with results from finite element analysis. Analytical predictions of the projectile residual velocities were also found to be in good agreement with experimental data.     

Behaviour of sandwich panels subject to intense air blasts – Part 2: Numerical simulation

Finite element simulation is employed to analyse the behaviour of clamped sandwich panels comprising equal thicknesses mild steel plates sandwiching an aluminium honeycomb core when subject to blast loadings. Pressure-time histories representative of blast loadings are applied to the front plate of the sandwich panel. The FE model is verified using the experimental test results for uniform and localised blast loading in the presence of a honeycomb core and with only an air gap between the sandwich plates. It is observed that for the particular core material, the load transfer to the back plate of the panel depends on the load intensity, core thickness and flexibility of the sandwich panels.     

水下冲击波作用的铝合金蜂窝夹层板动力学响应研究

为研究铝合金蜂窝夹层板水下爆炸冲击波载荷作用的动态响应及抗冲击性能,利用非药式水下爆炸冲击波加载装置对气背固支5A06铝合金夹层板及具有相同面密度的单层板进行水下冲击波加载试验。利用高速相机结合三维数字散斑技术(DIC)对夹层板后面板动态响应进行实时测量,获得夹层板气背面受水下冲击波作用的动态响应历程及变形毁伤模式,比较分析铝合金蜂窝夹层板抗冲击防护性能。结果表明,较相同面密度的单层板,蜂窝夹层板受水下冲击波载荷作用的芯层压缩能有效减少气背面板的塑性变形,提高夹层结构整体抗冲击性能。     

Finite element modelling of core thickness effects in aluminium foam/composite sandwich structures under flexural loading

This paper models the flexural behaviour of a composite sandwich structure with an aluminium foam core using the finite element (FE) code LS-DYNA. Two core thicknesses, 5 and 20 mm, were investigated. The FE results were compared with results from previous experimental work that measured full-field strain directly from the sample during testing. The deformation and failure behaviour predicted by the FE model compared well with the behaviour observed experimentally. The strain predicted by the FE model also agreed reasonably well with the distribution and magnitude of strain obtained experimentally. However, the FE model predicted lower peak load, which is most likely due to a size effect exhibited by aluminium foam. A simple modification of the FE model input parameters for the foam core subsequently produced good agreement between the model and experimental results.     

Thermo-mechanical load interactions in foam cored axi-symmetric sandwich circular plates – High-order and FE models

This work presents analytical and finite element analysis (FEA) results of the thermo-mechanical non-linear response of an axi-symmetric circular sandwich plates with a compliant foam core. The study investigates the load–thermal interaction response of a sandwich panel where the properties of the core are temperature dependent and degrade as the temperatures are raised. It presents briefly the governing equations for a sandwich plate based on the principles of the high-order sandwich panel theory (HSAPT) which incorporates the effects of the vertical flexibility of the core material as well as the effects of temperature independent/dependent mechanical properties of the foam core. The effects of the thermal degradation of core material on the thermo-mechanical non-linear response of a simply supported circular sandwich plate are studied through the analytical and FE models. The difficulties involved in non-linear geometrical FE modeling of sandwich panels with a compliant “soft” core with temperature-dependent mechanical properties are discussed. The HSAPT model predictions are compared very well with FE result. An important conclusion of the study is that the interaction between mechanical loads, temperature induced deformations, and degradation of the mechanical properties due to elevated temperatures, may seriously affect the structural integrity of foam cored sandwich plates.     

Fracture of aluminium foam core sacrificial cladding subjected to air-blast loading

The effect of core density and cover plate thickness on the blast response of sacrificial cladding panels has been investigated through blast loading experiments and finite element modelling on structures with steel cover plates and aluminium foam cores. A range of foam core densities were examined, with 10%, 15% and 20% nominal relative densities. The cover plate thickness greatly influenced the response of the sacrificial cladding. Cover plates that were 2 mm thick exhibited significant permanent deformations and variable percentage crush across the section, whereas the 4 mm thick cover plates were more rigid causing the core to compress uniformly. Considerable fracture of the foam was observed after blast testing, particularly for the lower density foams. The effect of bonding the cover plate to the core was also examined. Numerical simulations of the experiments were performed using ABAQUS/Explicit to provide insight into the response mechanism. It was shown through the finite element simulations that tensile fracture of the foam occurred during the unloading phase of response and that adhesion of the cover plate to the foam caused higher levels of cracking. This was consistent with the experimental observations.     

Impact modeling of foam cored sandwich plates with ductile or brittle faceplates

This paper reports numerical results of low velocity impact on open-face sandwich plates with an impactor of 2.65 kg mass hitting with 6.7 m/s velocity. The numerical simulation is done using 3D finite element models in LS-DYNA. The sandwich plates used for the present work have a core made of commercial aluminum alloy foam (Alporas) with faceplates made of either ductile aluminum (Al) or brittle carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP). Selection of suitable constitutive models and erosion criterion for the failure analysis is investigated. A simplified analytical model for the peak load prediction under punch-through failure mode is presented. Numerically predicted contact force versus time, energy absorbed versus time along with the failure modes are compared with the experimental measurements and observations. Within experimental scatter, there is a good agreement between the numerical predictions and experimental measurements. Further more, the analytically predicted peak load values are in excellent agreement with the experimental measurements.     

复合材料泡沫夹芯板局部连接拉脱破坏试验与数值仿真

对复合材料泡沫夹芯板局部连接拉脱破坏进行了试验研究,分析了接头的破坏模式、失效载荷和面板对接头的影响。采用ABAQUS有限元软件进行了数值分析,通过与实验结果对比验证其模型的可靠性,预测分析内部的破坏模式以及结构参数对接头破坏的影响,研究了泡沫芯体内部的渐进破坏以及面板和泡沫芯体之间的胶层脱粘破坏。结果表明:泡沫夹芯板预埋螺栓连接结构灌封胶边缘的泡沫先产生裂纹后向中间扩展,中间区域全部开裂时两端裂纹沿着45°方向向上扩展。胶层开裂的区域呈弧形条状,分布在螺栓紧固件的两侧,在面板宽度方向,开裂的区域贯穿两侧。随着预埋件深度的增加最大破坏载荷也在增加,随着预埋件直径的增加亚临界破坏载荷和最大破坏载荷没有比较明显的变化,但最大破坏位移在减小。      

The influence of correlating material parameters of gradient foam core on free vibration of sandwich panel

For the sandwich panel with mass density gradient (DG) foam core, the Young's modulus of the core varies with the mass density along the thickness direction. To characterize the correlative effect of Young's modulus and mass density of the DG closed-cell foam material, a simplified formula is presented. Subsequently, based on a high-order sandwich plate theory for sandwich panel with homogeneous core, a new gradient sandwich model is developed by introducing a gradient expression of material properties. Finite element (FE) simulation is carried out in order to verify this model. The results show that the proposed model can predict well the free vibration of composite sandwich panel with the gradient core. Finally, the correlating effects of material parameters of the DG foam core on the natural frequencies of sandwich panel are investigated. It is found that the natural frequencies of sandwich panels decrease as the gradient changes of the DG foam cores increase under the condition of that the core masses keep constant.     

Some theoretical considerations on the dynamic response of sandwich structures under impulsive loading

A theoretical solution is obtained to predict the dynamic response of peripherally clamped square metallic sandwich panels with either honeycomb core or aluminium foam core under blast loading. In the theoretical analysis, the deformation of sandwich structures is separated into three phases, corresponding to the transfer of impulse to the front face velocity, core crushing and overall structural bending/stretching, respectively. The cellular core is assumed to have a progressive crushing deformation mode in the out-of-plane direction, with a dynamically enhanced plateau stress (for honeycombs). The in-plane strength of the cellular core is assumed unaffected by the out-of-plane compression. By adopting an energy dissipation rate balance approach developed by earlier researchers for monolithic square plates, but incorporating a newly developed yield condition for the sandwich panels in terms of bending moment and membrane force, “upper” and “lower” bounds are obtained for the maximum permanent deflections and response time. Finally, comparative studies are carried out to investigate: (1) influence of the change in the in-plane strength of the core after the out-of-plane compression; (2) performances of a square monolith panel and a square sandwich panel with the same mass per unit area; and (3) analytical models of sandwich beams and circular and square sandwich plates.     

A new indentation model for sandwich circular panels with gradient metallic foam cores

A new analytical model is presented to predict indentation behavior of the sandwich circular panel with gradient foam cores under a flat-end cylindrical indenter. In the model, a displacement field of the upper face sheet of the sandwich panel is assumed to be a cosine function and plateau stress of the gradient foam core varies with the mass density along the thickness direction of the sandwich panel. The sandwich panel is modeled as an infinite, isotropic, plastic membrane on a rigid-plastic foundation. The explicit solutions of the relation between the indentation force and maximum plastic regions of the upper face sheet are derived based on the principle of minimum work. The analytical results are validated using the finite element code ABAQUS^®. The influences of the gradient foam core on the maximum plastic region, the indentation force and the plastic strain energy of the sandwich panel are also investigated.     

Response of metallic pyramidal lattice core sandwich panels to high intensity impulsive loading in air

Small scale explosive loading of sandwich panels with low relative density pyramidal lattice cores has been used to study the large scale bending and fracture response of a model sandwich panel system in which the core has little stretch resistance. The panels were made from a ductile stainless steel and the practical consequence of reducing the sandwich panel face sheet thickness to induce a recently predicted beneficial fluid-structure interaction (FSI) effect was investigated. The panel responses are compared to those of monolithic solid plates of equivalent areal density. The impulse imparted to the panels was varied from 1.5 to 7.6 kPa s by changing the standoff distance between the center of a spherical explosive charge and the front face of the panels. A decoupled finite element model has been used to computationally investigate the dynamic response of the panels. It predicts panel deformations well and is used to identify the deformation time sequence and the face sheet and core failure mechanisms. The study shows that efforts to use thin face sheets to exploit FSI benefits are constrained by dynamic fracture of the front face and that this failure mode is in part a consequence of the high strength of the inertially stabilized trusses. Even though the pyramidal lattice core offers little in-plane stretch resistance, and the FSI effect is negligible during loading by air, the sandwich panels are found to suffer slightly smaller back face deflections and transmit smaller vertical component forces to the supports compared to equivalent monolithic plates.     

Numerical simulation of damage and failure in aircraft windshield structure against bird strike

Based on the updated Lagrangian approach, the incremented form of a damage-modified nonlinear visco-elastic constitutive model and its failure criterion were deduced using the updated Kirchhoff stress tensors and strain tensors. The finite element model of a windshield structure including windshield, framework, arc-frame, gasket and rivets was established, in which the adaptive contact relation and boundary condition was defined. A contact–impact coupling algorithm and the explicit dynamic finite element program LS-DYNA were applied to simulate the damage and failure process of windshield structure under three kinds of bird strike velocities. The damage-modified nonlinear visco-elastic constitutive model and its failure criterion were implemented into the user material program. The results showed that the damage and failure of windshield under bird strike can be effectively simulated.     

梯度铝泡沫夹层结构抗爆性能仿真与优化

采用动力显式有限元方法,以面比吸能和背板最大变形量为评价指标,研究了铝合金面板—梯度铝泡沫芯体—装甲钢背板夹层结构的抗爆性能。分析了芯体密度梯度排布对结构抗爆性能的影响,并与均匀密度铝泡沫夹层板进行了对比。同时,基于径向基函数建立了夹层结构抗爆性能预测响应面模型,在此基础上对夹层结构进行了多目标优化设计。结果表明,铝泡沫芯体相对密度排布顺序对夹层结构抗爆性影响明显;具有最佳芯体密度梯度排布的铝泡沫夹层结构的抗爆性能明显优于等质量的均匀密度铝泡沫夹层结构;多目标优化可进一步提高梯度铝泡沫夹层结构的综合抗爆性能。     

Modelling of composite sandwich structures with honeycomb core subjected to high-velocity impact

In this study the perforation of composite sandwich structures subjected to high-velocity impact was analysed. Sandwich panels with carbon/epoxy skins and an aluminium honeycomb core were modelled by a three-dimensional finite element model implemented in ABAQUS/Explicit. The model was validated with experimental tests by comparing numerical and experimental residual velocity, ballistic limit, and contact time. By this model the influence of the components on the behaviour of the sandwich panel under impact load was evaluated; also, the contribution of the failure mechanisms to the energy-absorption of the projectile kinetic energy was determined.     

泡沫填充的S型褶皱复合材料夹芯板低速冲击响应特性

为了研究泡沫填充褶皱夹芯结构低速冲击响应特性与损伤机制,采用热压法制备了玻璃纤维增强S型褶皱夹芯板,并使用聚氨酯泡沫进行了填充,通过落锤试验机对夹芯板节点与基座两个位置进行了冲击试验。研究表明,冲击位置对泡沫填充褶皱夹芯板的失效模式存在影响。当冲击位置为节点时,夹芯板芯子以凸侧面曲面壁压溃断裂失效为主,泡沫的填充起到了提供力矩的作用。当冲击位置为基座时,夹芯板芯子以凹侧面曲面壁撕裂和凸侧面曲面壁压溃失效为主,夹芯板损伤沿板厚度方向扩展充分,导致冲击载荷均匀化。在相同冲击能量下,节点与基座冲击相比,夹芯板的最大载荷力提高,并且比较稳定。此外,节点载荷峰值产生的冲击位移较低于基座冲击。      

Response of thin-skinned sandwich panels to contact loading with flat-ended cylindrical punches: Experiments,numerical simulations and neutron diffraction measurements

The response of aluminium foam-cored sandwich panels to localised contact loading was investigated experimentally and numerically using flat-ended cylindrical punch of four varying sizes. ALPORAS and ALULIGHT closed-cell foams of 15 mm thickness with 0.3 mm thick aluminium face sheets (of 236 MPa yield strength) were used to manufacture the sandwich panels. Face sheet fracturing at the perimeter of the indenter, in addition to foam cells collapse beneath the indenter and tearing of the cell walls at the perimeter of the indenter were the major failure mechanisms of the sandwich panels, irrespective of the strength and density of the underlying foam core. The authors employed a 3D model in ABAQUS/Explicit to evaluate the indentation event, the skin failure of the face sheets and carry out a sensitivity study of the panel's response. Using the foam model of Deshpande and Fleck combined with the forming limit diagram (FLD) of the aluminium face sheet, good quantitative and qualitative correlations between experiments and simulations were achieved. The higher plastic compliance of the ALPORAS led to increased bending of the sheet metal and delayed the onset of sheet necking and failure. ALULIGHT-cored panels exhibited higher load bearing and energy absorption capacity, compared with ALPORAS cores, due to their higher foam and cell densities and higher yield strength of the cell walls. Additionally, they exhibited greater propensity for strain hardening as evidenced by mechanical testing and the neutron diffraction measurements, which demonstrated the development of macroscopically measurable stresses at higher strains. At these conditions the ALULIGHT response upon compaction becomes akin to the response of bulk material with measurable elastic modulus and evident Poisson effect.     

缝合泡沫夹层复合材料低速冲击数值模拟及实验

在ABAQUS分析平台中建立了缝合泡沫夹层复合材料在低速冲击下的动力学有限元模型,采用杆单元模拟缝线树脂柱的作用,基于Hashin破坏准则模拟层板面内损伤,通过各向同性硬化本构模型利用等效塑性变形模拟泡沫夹芯损伤演化。针对相同铺层的缝合和未缝合泡沫夹层结构,模拟了相同冲击能量下的低速冲击响应过程及面板、泡沫的损伤情况,数值结果与实验结果吻合较好,证明了该方法的有效性和准确性。研究结果表明,在低速冲击下,泡沫夹层结构引入缝线后虽然降低了泡沫缓冲吸能的作用,使得面板表面受到较大的冲击破坏,但增强了整体刚度,增大了面板抵抗弯曲变形的能力,减小了内部面板的损伤,使其在改善复合材料面板易分层缺陷的同时还依然拥有优良的面内性能。