Strength reduction behavior of honeycomb sandwich structure subjected to low-velocity impact

The paper deals with the effect of constituent materials on impact damage and strength reduction of a sandwich structure, composed of laminated facesheets and Nomex® honeycomb core. Low-velocity impact tests were performed and damage was inspected by scanning acoustic microscopy. In addition, static tests were conducted under flexural loading. The damage behavior is characterized through the energy absorbed during impact. The strength reduction is evaluated via a residual strength prediction model. A statistical model is developed to identify the variation of residual strength of the impacted structure.