Non-linear indentation behavior of foam core sandwich composite materials—A 2D approach

Light weight high performance sandwich composite materials have been used more and more frequently in various load bearing applications in recent decades. However, sandwich materials with thin composite face sheets and a low density foam core are notoriously sensitive to failure by localized external loads. These loads induce significant local deflections of the loaded face sheet into the core of the sandwich composite material, thus causing high stress concentrations. As a result, a complex multiaxial stressed and strained state can be obtained in the area of localized load application. Another important consequence of the highly localized external loads is the formation of a residual dent in the face sheet (a geometrical imperfection) that can reduce significantly the post-indentation load bearing capacity of the sandwich structure.This paper addresses the elastic–plastic response of sandwich composite beams with a foam core to local static loading. The study deals with a 2D configuration, where a sandwich beam is indented by a steel cylinder across the whole width of the specimen. The ABAQUS finite element package is used to model the indentation response of the beams. Both physical and geometrical non-linearities are taken into account. The plastic response of the foam core is modeled by the ¹CRUSHABLE FOAM and the ¹CRUSHABLE FOAM HARDENING option of the ABAQUS code. The purpose of the numerical modeling is to develop correct 2D simulations of the non-linear response in order to further understand the failure modes caused by static indentation. In order to verify the finite element model, indentation tests are performed on sandwich composite beams using a cylindrical indentor. The numerical results show good agreement with experimental test data.