Modelling Impact Damage in Composite Sandwich Panels

Abstract

The presentation describes the application of the simulation methods to design studies on a novel form of double-walled composite panels with energy absorbing cores currently being assessed for use in aircraft structures. These are non-standard sandwich structures, in which a main load-bearing composite laminate is protected from impact damage by an energy absorbing core and a second cover laminate. Core materials being considered include folded composite plate structures, polymer foams and Nomex honeycomb. Impact load cases of interest include high velocity impacts from steel impactors and deformable, soft body impactors such as ice. Representative structures are modelled and FE simulation results are presented, which simulate numerically the observed impact failure modes and failure progression under medium to high impact velocities representative of civil aircraft applications.