Projectile Impact Testing of Glass Fiber-Reinforced Composite and Layered Corrugated Aluminium and Aluminium Foam Core Sandwich Panels: a Comparative Study

Abstract

E-glass/polyester composite and layered corrugated aluminium and aluminium foam core sandwich panels were projectile impact tested between 127 m/s and 190 m/s using a hardened steel sphere projectile. The corrugated aluminium cores, constructed from aluminium fin layers and aluminium interlayers and face sheets, exhibited relatively lower-plateau stresses and higher stress oscillations in the plateau region than aluminium foam cores. The applied brazing process resulted in reductions in the plateau stresses of the corrugated aluminium cores. The sandwich panels with 2- and 3-mm-thick composite face sheets and the epoxy-bonded corrugated aluminium sheet cores were perforated, while the sandwich panels with 5-mm-thick composite face sheets were penetrated in the projectile impact tests. On the other hand, the sandwich panels with aluminium foam cores were only penetrated. A simple comparison between the ballistic limits of the sandwich panels as a function of total weight revealed significant increases in the ballistic limits of the cores with the inclusion of composite face sheets. The determined higher impact resistance of the foam core sandwich panels was attributed to the relatively higher strength of the foam cores investigated and the ability to distribute the incident impulse to a relatively large area of the backing composite plate.