Blast Amelioration Systems: Effect of Topological Parameters on Performance of Layered Metallic-Lattice Sandwich Panels

In recent times, the use of sandwich panels as sacrificial claddings in the blast/impact protection of structural systems has been the subject of much investigation. Popular sandwich panels systems include core consisting of regular metallic-lattice and metallic-foams. These systems have been proven to be beneficial when used as sacrificial claddings because of their propensity to sustain large deformations and plastic energy dissipation. This allows the panels systems to absorb more energy than a single metallic plate consisting of the same mass. In case of metallic-lattice cores, energy absorption capacity depends on the topological structure and the optimal topology for these cores is not yet established. In this study the effect of topological parameters on the performance of sandwich panel systems with metallic-lattice cores is investigated. Nonlinear finite element analyses of cladding systems with different core topologies are carried out to investigate the effect of core parameters on their performance. The simulation results shows that the performance of the sandwich panel systems is highly influenced the topological parameters.