Effect of heat treatment on the blast loading response of combined geometry shell core sandwich structures

• The effect of heat treatment on the dynamic crushing behavior was investigated.
• Numerical models were prepared to study the blast loading response of structures.
• The effects of heat treatment and reversing on blast loading response were revealed.
• The heat treatment increased the arrival time of wave to the protected structure.

The effect of heat treatment on the dynamic crushing and energy absorption behavior of combined geometry shell cores (hemisphere and cylinder) of sandwich structures were investigated both experimentally and numerically. The applied heat treatment on the combined geometry shell cores relieved the stress caused by deep drawing, diminishing the peak transmitted forces. The verified numerical models of the as-received and heat-treated combined geometry shells were used to model blast loading of various sandwich configurations and the additional sandwich configurations of reversing the cylindrical side of the cores to the impacted side. Both the applied heat-treatment and the reversing process decreased the magnitude of the force transmitted to the protected structure. The applied heat treatment increased the arrival time of blast force wave to the protected structure, while the reversing resulted in opposite.