Low-velocity impact response of a novel bionic turtle shell back armor sandwich structure

Turtle shell dorsal armor comprises a typical lightweight laminated composite structural material, which is constructed by cuticle and bone layer, with high specific strength and high fracture toughness. The red-eared slider turtle, a widely studied species of turtle, has a rich hierarchical structure. In this paper, according to the structure of red-eared slider turtle shell dorsal armor and the characteristics of each layer as well as by taking into full consideration of the fine structure of cuticle and ventral cortex of the shell dorsal armor, two bionic foam silicone rubber sandwich structures of different levels were prepared. Low-velocity impact test and finite element simulation analysis were carried out to study the mechanical response, specific absorbed energy, and damage mode of the two bionic sandwich structures under different impact energies, hammerhead shapes, and hammerhead radii. By comparing the mechanical response and specific energy absorption with the existing ordinary sandwich structure, we find that the two sandwich structures modeled in this paper exhibit better impact resistance than the ordinary sandwich structure. The shape and radius of the hammer head have a significant effect on the energy absorption characteristics of the sandwich structure, and the damage mode under the hemispherical hammer head is mainly dominated by tensile tearing damage, while the damage mode of extrusion fracture is more obvious under the impact of the conical hammer head. With the increase of the radius of the hammer head, the absorbed energy and specific energy absorption of the sandwich structure increases.