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Compression-after-Impact Strength of Sandwich Panels with Core Crushing Damage

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Abstract

Compression-after-impact (CAI) strength of foam-cored sandwich panels with composite face sheets is investigated experimentally. The low-velocity impact by a semi-spherical (blunt) projectile is considered, producing a damage mainly in a form of core crushing accompanied by a permanent indentation (residual dent) in the face sheet. Instrumentation of the panels by strain gauges and digital speckle photography analysis are used to study the effect of damage on failure mechanisms in the panel. Residual dent growth inwards toward the mid-plane of a sandwich panel followed by a complete separation of the face sheet is identified as the failure mode. CAI strength of sandwich panels is shown to decrease with increasing impact damage size. Destructive sectioning of sandwich panels is used to characterise damage parameters and morphology for implementation in a finite element model. The finite element model that accounts for relevant details of impact damage morphology is developed and proposed for failure analysis and CAI strength predictions of damaged panels demonstrating a good correlation with experimental results.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Aeronautical and Vehicle Engineering, Kungl Tekniska Högskolan, S-100 44, Stockholm, Sweden

    Andrey Shipsha & Dan Zenkert

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  1. Andrey Shipsha
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  2. Dan Zenkert
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Correspondence to Andrey Shipsha.

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Shipsha, A., Zenkert, D. Compression-after-Impact Strength of Sandwich Panels with Core Crushing Damage. Appl Compos Mater 12, 149–164 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10443-005-1119-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10443-005-1119-1

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