Impact damage behavior of sandwich composite with aluminum foam core

Impact property of the sandwich composite with aluminum foam core was investigated by experiment and simulation analysis. Impact energies of 50, 70 and 100 J were applied to the specimens in impact tests. The results show that the striker penetrates the upper face sheet, causing the core to be damaged at 50 J test but the lower face sheet remains intact with no damage. At 70 J test, the striker penetrates the upper face sheet and the core, and causes the lower face sheet to be damaged. Finally at 100 J test, the striker penetrates both the upper face sheet and the core, and even the lower face sheet. The experimental and simulation results agree with each other. By the confirmation with the experimental results, all these simulation results can be applied on structure study of real sandwich composite with aluminum foam core effectively.