Transient response of composite sandwich panels subjected to blast wave pressure

This study presents a performance evaluation of sandwich panels under blast pressure when core material, core pattern, and core wall thickness are varied. Also considered is the effect of a protective ceramic layer on the blast side of the panel Two core materials are considered: aluminum and foam. When assessing core pattern, corrugated and aluminum grid cores with a various number of corrugations/cells are examined. Also, the effects of three distinct core wall thicknesses, i.e., 0.50 mm, 0.25 mm, and 0.10 mm, are investigated. The best performance is observed in a panel with 20 corrugations along a 1-m stretch (5-cm pitch), 0.50-mm wall thickness, and the protective ceramic layer. Weight penalty vs. performance gain and energy considerations are briefly discussed.