Finite element simulation of metallic cylindrical sandwich shells with graded aluminum tubular cores subjected to internal blast loading

The LS-DYNA software was employed to analyze the dynamic responses of a sandwich cylindrical shell system under internal blast loading. The system consisted of metallic face sheets and graded aluminum tubular cores with different wall thicknesses. The response of this system was also compared with that of conventional ungraded ones. The dynamic response of graded cylindrical shells with a series of different core arrangements is reported in this paper. The deformation and blast resistance of the structures were discussed in detail, and the optimum sandwich configuration was obtained. The core layers, which had thickness-tapered arrangement from the inner to the outer layer, were favorable for the energy dissipation and the out face-sheet deflection. Finally, two new response types were defined based on the core compression consequence, which is unique to sandwich structures with graded cores.