Experimental and numerical investigation on GFRP- aramid honeycomb sandwich panel under bird impact: Estimation of penetration velocity

In order to effectively mitigate the risk of bird strikes, it is imperative that radomes situated in areas prone to such incidents possess the capability to endure the impact loads caused by bird collisions. Additionally, these radomes must maintain their electromagnetic transparency. Therefore, glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) with Nomex honeycomb sandwich material is used for radome structural design. The current research is intended to examine the dynamic behavior of sandwich composite panels in order to determine the penetration velocity by testing them at three distinct bird impact velocities, such as 88 m/s, 135 m/s, and 153 m/s. It is necessary to find the velocity at which the bird will penetrate / rupture the radome for the safety of Antenna / Electronic units mounted behind the radome. Finite element explicit code LS-DYNA simulates all three impacts. Extension of the simulation estimated the threshold bird impact velocity to be 146 m/s at which it penetrates the sandwich panel under fixture-controlled boundary condition.