Preliminary assessment of sandwich plates subject to blast loads

• Published in: International journal of mechanical sciences Vol. 45; no. 4; pp. 687 - 705
• Main Authors: Xue, Zhenyu, Hutchinson, John W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2003; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Blast loading; Computational techniques; Elasticity. Plasticity; Exact sciences and technology; Finite-element and galerkin methods; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Inelasticity (thermoplasticity, viscoplasticity...); Lightweight structure; Mathematical methods in physics; Mechanical properties and methods of testing. Rheology. Fracture mechanics. Tribology; Metals. Metallurgy; Physics; Sandwich plates; Solid mechanics; Structural and continuum mechanics; Truss cores; Viscoelasticity, plasticity, viscoplasticity; Truss cores; Lightweight structure; Sandwich plates; Blast loading
• ISSN: 0020-7403; 1879-2162
• DOI: 10.1016/S0020-7403(03)00108-5

The question motivating the present study is whether metal sandwich plates with sufficiently strong cores are able to sustain substantially larger blast loads than monolithic solid plates of the same material and total mass. Circular plates clamped at their edges are considered under blast loads large enough to produce substantial deflections. The material is elastic–perfectly plastic. Material strain-rate dependence and fracture are neglected. A dynamic finite element formulation for elastic–plastic solids is employed to analyze the plate response. Uniformly distributed blast impulses are considered. As a basis for comparison, complete results are obtained for solid plates for both zero-period and finite-period impulses. Similar computations are carried out for a set of sandwich plates having tetragonal truss cores. The potential for superior strength and energy absorbing capacity of the sandwich plates is demonstrated compared with solid plates having the same mass. The importance of both the strength and energy absorbing capacity of the core are highlighted for superior blast resistance. Proposals for further research are made.