Numerical Investigation of the Effect of Geometry on the Energy Absorption Rate of Sandwich Panels under Blast Loading

In the recent years, advent of new technologies in the field of Structural Engineering, elements such as Sandwich Panels has attracted more attention, which are lightweight and highly resistant.Sandwich components are  the most widely used elements to resist against the pressure of explosion wave. The core of the sandwich panels does the most important role in absorbing and dissipating the energy of the explosion.And geometric shape of the core can have a decisive role in the amount of energy absorption. Accordingly, in this paper, the effect of geometric shape of the core of the steel sandwich panel on its behavior and amount of energy absorption against the explosion wave is analyzed by numerical methods. Abaqusfinite element software is used for simulation and analyzing. Validation of the responses obtained from numerical solution was performed with experimental data of valid papers. In the following, sandwich panels with four different types of regular and easily fabricated cores, were modeled under different pressures of explosive wave. And the effect of core geometry on the amount of energy absorption and displacement was investigated.Two important criteria in designing these types of sandwich panels are maximizing energy absorption and minimizing maximum displacement. The results show that at low pressures Model 4 with a quadrilateral horizontal core has the maximum energy absorption and minimum displacement value. However, at high pressures Model 2 with a hexagonal vertical core has the minimum displacement and Model 1 with a quadrilateral vertical has the maximum energy absorption. In other words related to the explosion pressure, a sandwich panel with the special geometry can have the best performance.