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Indentation of Metal Foam Core Sandwich Beams: Experimental and Theoretical Investigations

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Abstract

Indentation behavior of metal foam core sandwich beams is investigated experimentally and theoretically. The deformation mechanisms of indentation are explored. The interaction of plastic bending and stretching in the local deformation regions of the top face sheet is considered. An analytical model is developed to predict large deflections of indentation of the sandwich beams transversely loaded at any location of the span. The analytical predictions are in good agreement with experiment results. Effects of the punch shape, the face sheet thickness and loading location on the indentation are discussed. It is shown that the loading location drives various deformation mechanisms of indentation for a given sandwich beam. The membrane force plays an important role in the large deflection of indentation of sandwich beams when the loading point exceeds the face sheet thickness.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial supports of NSFC (11321062, 11372235, 11572234 and 11502189) and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation funded project (2015M572546).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory for Strength and Vibration of Mechanical Structures, School of Aerospace Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, China

    J. Zhang, Q. Qin, W. Ai, Z. Wang & T. J. Wang

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  1. J. Zhang
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  2. Q. Qin
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  3. W. Ai
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  4. Z. Wang
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  5. T. J. Wang
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Correspondence to Q. Qin or T. J. Wang.

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Zhang, J., Qin, Q., Ai, W. et al. Indentation of Metal Foam Core Sandwich Beams: Experimental and Theoretical Investigations. Exp Mech 56, 771–784 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11340-016-0128-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11340-016-0128-3

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