The effect of face-sheet thickness on low-velocity impact response of sandwich composites with foam cores

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental investigation on impact response of sandwich composite panels with different face-sheet thicknesses. A number of low velocity impact tests were performed under various impact energies. The damage process of the sandwich composites consisted of glass/epoxy face-sheets, and foam cores are analyzed from cross-examining some graphs such as load–deflection curves and damaged specimens. The primary damage modes observed are fiber fractures at upper and lower skins, delaminations between adjacent glass-epoxy layers, and core shear fractures.