Experimental study on the dynamic behaviour of aluminium foam sandwich plates under single and repeated impacts at low temperature

In this paper, the dynamic behaviour of aluminium foam sandwich plates (AFSPs) under impact loadings at low temperature was experimentally investigated. The impact force and the deformation as well as the energy absorption performances of AFSPs at room temperature and low temperature were obtained by using the drop tower INSTRON 9350 with thermostatic test chamber. The effects of impact energies and repeated impact loadings on the dynamic behaviour of AFSPs at room temperature (20 °C) and low temperature (−60 °C) were further examined. Experimental results showed that with the increase of the impact energy, the effect of low temperature on the dynamic behaviour of AFSPs under single impact loadings was enhanced gradually, the deflections of AFSPs at low temperature were smaller compared to that at room temperature, as a result of the increase in the yield stress of aluminum foam and mild steel at low temperature. Under repeated impact loadings, the deflections and absorbed energies of AFSPs at low temperature were smaller than those at room temperature. With the increase of impact number, the effect of low temperature on dynamic behaviour of AFSPs became much more significant.