The response of planar sandwich structures with metallic square-honeycomb cores
under high-intensity water-based impulsive loading is analyzed through fully dynamic
finite element simulations. The analyses concern overall structural response, damage
and energy dissipation. The steel sandwich plates considered have different contact
conditions with water — an air-backed configuration which simulates contact with
water on only the load side and a water-backed configuration which simulates
submerged conditions. The 3D finite element simulations account for the effects of
fluid-structure interactions and the ductile failure of the sandwich structure
material. Results show that the primary deformation mode is core-wall buckling
in light-core structures and shear-rupture in face-sheets and core-webs in
heavy-core structures. On a unit weight basis, sandwich structures with
heavy cores perform poorly while those with light cores exhibit superior
blast-resistance in terms of back-face deflection and total energy absorbed. Significant
differences between the responses of air-backed and water-backed structures are
observed. An analysis is carried out to develop structure-loading-performance
relations to facilitate the design of structures tailored for specific loading
conditions.
Keywords
steel sandwich structures, fluid-structure interactions,
numerical simulation, energy dissipation, damage
The George W. Woodruff School of
Mechanical Engineering
The School of Materials Science and Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA 30332-0405
United States
The George W. Woodruff School of
Mechanical Engineering
The School of Materials Science and Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA 30332-0405
United States
