Comparative Studies on the Impact Behavior of Two Sandwich Structures

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact behavior of two sandwich structures with different cores – polyurethane foam and expanded polystyrene foam coated with a thin metallic layer made of steel and aluminum. Moreover, the contact phenomenon which occurs between a rigid impactor and a sandwich structure is discussed in detail since it is very important to take into consideration the local deformation in the contact zone, in order to create a numerical model for predicting the contact force history. Also, in this paper is presented the rupture of the expanded polystyrene during the impact. The authors have chosen those configurations due to the different mechanical properties and energy absorption observed and measured on polyurethane and polystyrene foams.