a b s t r a c tThe impact responses of brazed and adhesively bonded layered 1050 H14 trapezoidal corrugated aluminum core and aluminum sheet interlayer sandwich panels with 3003 and 1050 H14 aluminum alloy face sheets were investigated in a drop weight tower using spherical, flat and conical end striker tips. The full geometrical models of the tests were implemented using the LS-DYNA. The panels tested with spherical and flat striker tips were not penetrated and experienced slightly higher deformation forces and energy absorptions in 0°/90°corrugated layer orientation than in 0°/0°orientation. However, the panels impacted using a conical striker tip were penetrated/perforated and showed comparably smaller deformation forces and energy absorptions, especially in 0°/90°layer orientation. The simulation and experimental force values were shown to reasonably agree with each other at the large extent of deformation and revealed the progressive fin folding of corrugated core layers and bending of interlayer sheets as the main deformation mechanisms. The experimentally and numerically determined impact velocity sensitivity of the tested panels was attributed to the micro inertial effects which increased the critical buckling loads of fin layers at increasingly high loading rates.

a b s t r a c tThe axial crushing responses of bonded and brazed multi-layer 1050 H14 trapezoidal aluminum corrugated core (fin) sandwich structures, with and without aluminum interlayer sheets in 01/01 and 01/901 core orientations, were both experimentally and numerically investigated at quasi-static and dynamic strain rates. Multi-layering the core layers decreased the buckling stress and increased the densification strain. The experimental and simulation compression stress-strain curves showed reasonable agreements with each other. Two main crushing modes were observed experimentally and numerically: the progressive fin folding and the shearing interlayer aluminum sheets. Both, the simulation and experimental buckling and post-buckling stresses increased when the interlayer sheets were constraint laterally. The multi-layer samples without interlayer sheets in 01/901 core orientation exhibited higher buckling stresses than the samples in 01/01 core orientation. The increased buckling stress of 01/01 oriented core samples without interlayer sheets at high strain rate was attributed to the micro-inertial effects which led to increased bending forces at higher impact velocities.

An aluminum (1050 H14) multi-layer corrugated structure composed of brazed 16 trapezoidal zig-zig fin layers was direct impact tested above the critical velocities for shock formation using a modified Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar. The experimentally measured stress-time histories of the cylindrical test samples in the direct impact tests were verified with the simulations implemented in the explicit finite element code of LSÀDYNA. The quasi-static experimental and simulation deformation of the corrugated samples proceeded with the discrete, non-contiguous bands of crushed fin layers, while the dynamic crushing started from the proximal impact end and proceeded with a sequential and in-planar manner, showing shock type deformation characteristic. The experimental and numerical crushing stresses and the numerically determined densification strains of the fin layers increased with increasing impact velocity above the critical velocities. When the numerically determined densification strain at a specific velocity above the critical velocities was incorporated, the rigid-perfectly-plastic-locking idealized model resulted in peak stresses similar to the experimental and simulation mean crushing stresses. However, the model underestimated the experimental and simulation peak stresses below 200 m s ¡1. It was proposed, while the micro inertial effects were responsible for the increase of the crushing stresses at and below subcritical velocities, the shock deformation became dominant above the critical velocities.

The crushing of single-and double-layer zig-zag trapezoidal corrugated core sandwiches was investigated experimentally and numerically at quasi-static and dynamic rates. The buckling stress of sandwiches increased when the rate increased from quasi-static to dynamic. The increased buckling stresses were ascribed to the micro-inertial effects, which altered the buckling mode of the core from three plastic hinges to higher number of plastic hinge formations. The initial buckling stress was numerically shown to be imperfection sensitive when the imperfection size was comparable with the buckling length. The numerical buckling stresses of zig-zag and straight corrugated cores were similar, while higher inertial effects were found in triangular corrugated core.

E-glass/polyester composite and layered corrugated aluminium and aluminium foam core sandwich panels were projectile impact tested between 127 m/s and 190 m/s using a hardened steel sphere projectile. The corrugated aluminium cores, constructed from aluminium fin layers and aluminium interlayers and face sheets, exhibited relatively lower-plateau stresses and higher stress oscillations in the plateau region than aluminium foam cores. The applied brazing process resulted in reductions in the plateau stresses of the corrugated aluminium cores. The sandwich panels with 2- and 3-mm-thick composite face sheets and the epoxy-bonded corrugated aluminium sheet cores were perforated, while the sandwich panels with 5-mm-thick composite face sheets were penetrated in the projectile impact tests. On the other hand, the sandwich panels with aluminium foam cores were only penetrated. A simple comparison between the ballistic limits of the sandwich panels as a function of total weight revealed significant increases in the ballistic limits of the cores with the inclusion of composite face sheets. The determined higher impact resistance of the foam core sandwich panels was attributed to the relatively higher strength of the foam cores investigated and the ability to distribute the incident impulse to a relatively large area of the backing composite plate