Structural integrity of designed sandwich panels under low temperature conditions: blast effect assessment using finite element simulation

This research employs a detailed finite element analysis to investigate the blast resilience of metallic sandwich panels under various thermal and structural conditions. The investigation considers a range of parameters, including core shapes (tetragonal, hexagonal, and octagonal), core heights (0.021 m, 0.051 m, and 0.081 m), levels of pre-existing damage, and TNT charge masses (0.5 kg, 1.5 kg, and 2.5 kg), all tested under three distinct temperatures: ambient (293 K), sub-zero (193 K), and cryogenic (113 K). Blast loading is simulated using the ConWep method with a consistent stand-off distance of 0.1 m. The findings reveal that panels with octagonal cores significantly outperform other geometries, reducing front-face deflection by up to 46%. Similarly, increasing the core height leads to a more than 60% reduction in back-face deformation. Cryogenic conditions further enhance the structural response, with simulations showing faster kinetic energy decay and a smoother stress distribution across both damaged and intact models. Cryogenic panels absorbed up to 25% more internal energy while maintaining lower overall strain levels, indicating a more efficient mechanism for dissipating blast energy. Overall, the study highlights how geometric configuration, thermal environment, and damage state collectively govern the blast performance of sandwich panels, offering valuable guidance for designing high-performance protective structures in sectors such as aerospace, defense, and cryogenic systems.

Subjects

Benchmark study

Blast mitigation

Finite element simulation

Sandwich panel

Structural damage

DDC Class

600: Technology

620.1: Engineering Mechanics and Materials Science

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Structural integrity of designed sandwich panels under low temperature conditions: blast effect assessment using finite element simulation