Metal-polymer-metal hybrid sandwich panels are gaining importance in various industrial applications due to their light weight and damping properties. When compared with composite materials, hybrid materials consisting of separate metal and thermoplastic parts can be recycled more easily. In addition to their applications in civil engineering, the aluminum-low density polyethylene-aluminum (Al-LDPE-Al) sandwich panels yield a potential use as light ballistic protection material. In this study, a standard hybrid panel of 3.2 mm polyethylene filling and 0.4 mm of two aluminum metal sheets was experimentally tested under ballistic impact. A finite element model was constructed via commercial software and validated through shooting experiments with a rifle under real conditions. The finite element model was used to simulate the oblique impact behavior of Al-LDPE-Al sandwich panels as a single layer, as 5 layers stacking and as a single layer equivalent of the stacked 5 layer. Results showed that the oblique impact does not have a significant effect on the single layer panel. Stacked layers, however, and the equivalent single layer of a stacked layer have the highest energy absorption under a 30° hitting angle.

Metal-polymer-metal hybrid sandwich panels are gaining importance in various industrial applications due to their light weight and damping properties. When compared with composite materials, hybrid materials consisting of separate metal and thermoplastic parts can be recycled more easily. In addition to their applications in civil engineering, the aluminum-low density polyethylene-aluminum (Al-LDPE-Al) sandwich panels yield a potential use as light ballistic protection material. In this study, a standard hybrid panel of 3.2 mm polyethylene filling and 0.4 mm of two aluminum metal sheets was experimentally tested under ballistic impact. A finite element model was constructed via commercial software and validated through shooting experiments with a rifle under real conditions. The finite element model was used to simulate the oblique impact behavior of Al-LDPE-Al sandwich panels as a single layer, as 5 layers stacking and as a single layer equivalent of the stacked 5 layer. Results showed that the oblique impact does not have a significant effect on the single layer panel. Stacked layers, however, and the equivalent single layer of a stacked layer have the highest energy absorption under a 30° hitting angle.