Numerical analysis of cladding sandwich panels with tubular cores subjected to uniform blast load

This article presents the results of a numerical study on the response of cladding sandwich panels with tubular cores that can be used as blast mitigators. The core of the cladding sandwich panels consisted of empty thin-walled aluminum circular tubes (38 mm in diameter) riveted laterally between the skin plates in different configurations (varying number of tubes and spacing between the tube). The skin of cladding sandwich panels consisted of a rigid DOMEX700 steel front plate which was exposed to the blast load and a back plate made of mild steel. The uniform blast load was achieved by detonating varying charge masses of explosive (ranging from 6 g to 50 g) at a stand-off distance of 200 mm down a square mild steel tube. The numerical model, developed in ANSYS AutoDYN 15.0, was validated for average deflection of the front plate and crush mode of the tubular cores using the experimental results that were presented in a previous paper [1]. The results of the simulations provided insights into the transient response of the cladding panels. The effects of the spacing between the tubular cores which also influenced the interaction between the tubular cores were also investigated. The number of plastic hinges formed was increased whilst the rotation angle of plastic hinges decreased with increasing interaction between the tubular cores.