A numerical model for bird strike of aluminium foam-based sandwich panels

Abstract Experimental bird-strike tests have been carried out on double sandwich panels made from AlSi7Mg0.5 aluminium foam core and aluminium AA2024 T3 cover plates. The bird-strike velocity varied from 140 to 190 m/s. The test specimens were instrumented with strain gauges in the impacted area to measure the local strains of the rear sandwich plate. A numerical model of this problem has been developed with the non-linear, finite element program LS-DYNA. A continuum damage-mechanics-based constitutive model was used to describe the behaviour and failure of the aluminium cover plates. The foam core was modelled by a pressure sensitive constitutive model coupled by a failure criterion on maximum volumetric strains. The bird was represented by an idealised geometry and the material model was defined by a linear equation-of-state. A multi-material arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) element formulation was used to represent the motion of the bird, whereas the sandwich panel was described by a Lagrangian reference configuration. A fluid–structure interface ensured proper coupling between the motion of the bird and the solid materials of the sandwich panel. It was found that the model was able to represent failure of both the aluminium cover plates as well as the aluminium foam core.