Influence of imperfections on the performance of metal foam core sandwich panels

Sandwich panels and beams are used in bending and compression dominated components. The retention of their load capacity in the presence of imperfections is a central consideration. To address this issue, sandwich beams with metallic foam cores have been tested in four-point bending following the introduction of imperfections, created by impressing the face sheets. Limit load expressions for face yielding, core shear, and indentation failure have been developed and used to construct failure mechanism maps. From these maps, specimen designs were determined. Imperfections were introduced by indenting to varying penetrations. The indents were located on both the compressive and tensile side of bending configurations. Experimental measurements of the load/deflection response are obtained and compared with finite element results. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.