Structural Response of Multi-Layered Aluminium Foam Core Sandwich Structure Against Blast Loading

Abstract

In the present study, three dimensional finite element analysis were carried out to know the structural response of the sandwich panels having closed cell Aluminium foam cored material against blast loading. The foam cored material were used in the form of layers of different Relative Density (R.D.) 6%, 10%, and 16% whereas the material for top and bottom face plate was considered as Aluminium Alloy (AA2024 T3) and Rolled Homogeneous Armour (RHA) steel respectively. The thickness of face plate was kept as 3 mm and total equivalent thickness of core material was considered as 50 mm and the length and breadth of the sandwich panel is 500 mm × 500 mm. The sandwich panel subjected to blast load equivalent to 700 gm. TNT at a stand-off distance of 350 mm from the front plate along the centerline of the panel. The numerical investigation was carried out through LS-DYNA software with varying charge mass, stand-off distance, individual layer thicknesses by keeping total core thickness constant and results were validated through the findings available in the literature and found close to each other. The influence of relative density, Stand-Off Distance (SOD), individual foam layer and mass of charge was explored. Results show that the various layers of foam with different densities improve the blast resistance of panel compared to panel with single layer of foam with uniform density.