Numerical and experimental investigation of deformation of circular sandwich plates with vertical metal tube core under free blast load

In this research, the deformation of circular metal sandwich panels with vertical tube cores under blast load has been investigated numerically and experimentally. The relationship of energy balance in different components of the structure has been considered. The core tubes are installed in a cross arrangement and vertically with the same height between the upper and lower sheets of the sandwich structure. The amount of energy absorbed by the cores is determined according to their location in the structure and the effect of their number and diameter. The grouping of the desired tests for this research has been done according to the thickness of the sheet 1.2 and 2 mm and with aluminum cores with diameters of 12 and 16 (mm). Numerical simulation has been done in the form of free explosion and by defining the pressure function using the Conwep method in Abaqus software. To validate the numerical results, experimental tests have been carried out with the construction of sandwich structure. In both methods, the maximum lateral displacement of the structure at its center and the displacement in terms of distance from the center of the structure, at cores location have been measured. Increased number of tubes in the core of the structure decreased the maximum rise in the upper layer and decreased the transverse displacement of the lower sheet. Structures with fewer cores and less sheet thickness showed more energy absorption. The average difference between the results of numerical and experimental methods was approximately 11%.