Deformation and failure modes of aluminum foam-cored sandwich plates under air-blast loading

In this paper, air-blast experiments were firstly carried out to investigate the deformation and failure modes of aluminum foam-cored sandwich plates. The maximum midpoint deflection of the foam-cored sandwich plates was assessed by using a 3D scanning device considering the effects of different impulses. Failure modes of each components were analyzed. Based on that, a finite element model was proposed to verify the experimental results and to gain a further understanding of the air-blast process. It was found that: (1) there was a positive correlation between the maximum midpoint deflection of the rear plate and the revised dimensionless impulses; (2) the effects of the quasi-static air pressure should be taken into account in the short-distance blast resistance structural design; (3) the major failure modes of the core layer included large overall deformation, local compression, fragmentation and fly-out; (4) the failure modes of the face sheets mainly presented as large ductile deformation and petalling. (5) The energy absorption was mainly dominated by the foamed-core part.