Numerical and Experimental Study of Energy Absorption in Aluminum Corrugated Core Sandwich Panels by Drop Hammer Test

This paper is aimed to study the behavior of sandwich panels made of Aluminum face sheet and Aluminum corrugated core under impact loading. Sandwich panels with square and triangular corrugated cores of two different heights are constructed and the effect of corrugated geometry on the level of absorbed energy as well as the panel strength are investigated. Drop Hammer by a cylindrical impactor with the weight of 25 kg is applied for exerting the impact. Acceleration, velocity, and displacement of impactor as well as the absorbed energy are evaluated throughout the test. The damage mechanisms include the buckling of core walls, separation of core from surface sheets, and formation of plastic hinges in the core plate. The results show that panel height and the geometry of its core play an important role in the energy absorbability impact strength, as the panels with more height have higher energy absorbability and panels with square core have higher impact strength than ones with triangular core. At the end, the numerical method confirms the Experimental method.