Response of aluminum foam sandwiches under low rate impact

The structures realized using sandwich technologies combine low weight with high energy absorbing capacity, so they are suitable for applications in the transport industry (automotive, aerospace, ship building industry) where the “lightweight design” philosophy and the safety of vehicles are very important aspects. While sandwich structures with polymeric foams have been applied for many years, currently there is a considerable and growing interest in the use of sandwiches with aluminum foam (AFS) core. The aim of this paper was the analysis of low-velocity impact response of aluminum foam sandwich panels in two different types (integral skins and bonded skins) and the investigation of their collapse modes using computed tomography (CT). A theoretical approach, based on the energy balance model, has been applied to investigate their impact behavior and the model parameters were obtained directly from the measurements carried out on CT images of the impacted sandwiches. The AFS structures are relatively intact compared to the more catastrophic and localized fracture of the polymeric sandwiches, so the mechanical properties and their performance after imact will be better than polymeric sandwiches