High-velocity Impact Responses of Composite Sandwich Panels with Honeycomb Core by Using Experimental and Numerical Methods

The impact response of honeycomb sandwich structures under high-velocity impact is greatly significant because of their wide usage in aviation. This paper presents an experimental and numerical investigation of the impact responses of the sandwich panel with a Nomex honeycomb core and composite face sheets. Numerical studies are performed by using ABAQUS/Explicit. The experimental studies are fulfilled as sandwich panel manufacturing and high-velocity impact testing. The numerical model which was verified can observe sandwich panel deformation on high-velocity impact, sandwich panel ballistic limit, and the energy absorption rate of sandwich panel structures (core, face sheets). Results show that the ballistic limits of the sandwich panel decrease with increasing impact velocity, and most of the energy is absorbed by the core of the sandwich structure compared to the face sheets.