This study attempts to establish an experimentalÀnumerical framework to simulate the dynamic response of aluminium foam-based sandwich panels subjected to bird strike. The numerical model is developed with the non-linear dynamic finite element code PAM-CRASH, where the smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH) algorithm is used to model the bird, an elasticÀplastic material model with isotropic damage is used to describe aluminium skin and the DeshpandeÀFleck foam model is used to describe the foam core. Mechanical tests of the skin and foam materials as well as bird-strike tests of a double sandwich panel are conducted and the experimental results are used to calibrate the model parameters. The birdstrike simulation results show reasonably good agreement with test data, indicating the simulation method is capable of predicting the dynamic response of aluminium foam-based sandwich panels in the event of bird strike. Finally a series of parametric studies are conducted to examine the effects of foam thickness and arrangement on the deformation behaviour and energy-absorbing ability of the sandwich panels to illustrate the potential application of the numerical model in the design of aluminium foam-based sandwich structures.