Investigation of the Effects of Core Thickness on Low Velocity Impact Behaviors of Aluminum Honeycomb Composites

Abstract

Honeycomb structures are used where the weight to strength ratio is important. They are also preferred to absorb the energy from the blows received. In this study, low velocity impact behavior of aluminum honeycomb composites with different core thicknesses were investigated. Aluminum honeycombs used in this study are AL3003 honeycombs of 10 mm and 15 mm thicknesses. Glass fiber reinforced epoxy sheets with a thickness of 2 mm were used as the surface sheet material. Composite plates were produced by vacuum infusion method. The upper and lower face plates were cut in dimensions of 100x100 mm. The cut plates were attached to the core material with adhesive and a sandwich structure was formed. After bonding, low velocity impact tests were performed on these test samples at 40J, 100J and 160J energy levels using the composite CEAST Fractovis Plus impact testing machine. According to the results obtained from the impact tests, at higher energy levels, 15 mm thick composites have 10-15% higher energy absorption capacity than 10 mm.