Low-velocity impact response of polyurethane foam composite sandwich structures

Low-velocity instrumented impact tests were carried out on sandwich panels made of glass fiber-reinforced plastic facesheets and polyurethane foam core. The tests were carried out using a drop weight instrumented impact tester, connected to a data acquisition system. Four different types of sandwich samples using polyester/e-glass and epoxy/e-glass facesheet materials and polyurethane foam were considered for investigation. Two different face sheet materials were chosen to experimentally examine the effect of their elastic modulus on the impact response of the sandwich structures. The data acquisition system records the impact data such as impact force, penetration time and depth of penetration, and plots impact. force versus depth of penetration and penetration time versus depth of penetration curves. From the recorded data the impact parameters such as maximum impact force, penetration time and depth of penetration versus impact energy were plotted to study the impact behavior. The results show that higher impact energy is required to break the epoxy/e-glass facesheet and backsheet sandwich specimens than other types of specimens examined. The impact damage caused to the facesheet, the core and the backsheet were thoroughly studied experimentally and the extent of damage caused to the facesheets and the core were also compared by finite element analyses.