Simulation of the response of fibre–metal laminates to localised blast loading

The response of Fibre–Metal Laminates (FML) to localised blast loading is studied numerically in order to interpret the deformation mechanism due to highly localised pressure pulses causing permanent deformations and damage observed experimentally in FML panels comprising different numbers of aluminium alloy layers and different thickness blocks of GFPP material [Langdon GS, Lemanski SL, Nurick GN, Simmons MS, Cantwell WJ, Schleyer GK. Behaviour of fibre–metal laminates subjected to localised blast loading: part I – experimental observations and failure analysis. International Journal of Impact Engineering 2007;34:1202–22; Lemanski SL, Nurick GN, Langdon GS, Simmons MS, Cantwell WJ, Schleyer GK. Behaviour of fibre–metal laminates subjected to localised blast loading: part II – quantitative analysis. International Journal of Impact Engineering 2007;34:1223–45; Langdon GS, Nuric GN, Lemanski SL, Simmons MS, Cantwell WJ, Schleyer GK. Failure characterisation of blast-loaded fibre–metal laminate panels based on aluminium and glass-fibre reinforced polypropylene. Composite Science and Technology 2007;67:1385–405]. The influence of the loading and material parameters on the final deformation characteristics is examined. Particular attention is paid to the transient deformation process by using finite element and analytical models to analyse the panel behaviour. It is shown that the response of the FML panels is extremely sensitive to the spatial and temporal distribution variation of the pressure caused by the blast loading. The study reveals that the properties of GFPP in the through-thickness direction play an essential role in the velocity transfer, which influences considerably the failure and final deformed shape of the FML panel. Good agreement between the experimental and numerical results is observed. Comparisons between the responses of relatively thin FML panels, monolithic aluminium alloy plates of equivalent mass and a foam-core panel to localised blast are also presented and discussed.