ICNPAA 2010: Mathematical Problems in
Engineering, Aerospace and Sciences

The sandwich materials are widely used in aerospace structures. This is because they have high stiffness to weight and strength to weight ratios, good vibration damping characteristics, and impact resistance. In this study, the sandwich plates subjected to the impact loading are investigated theoretically and experimentally. For this purpose, two types of sandwich plates are produced. The first one has carbon/epoxy facings and aramid honeycomb core and the second one has glass/epoxy facings and a stepwise graded viscoelastic core. The plates are produced using a heated vacuum table and hand lay-up technique. The plate is tested against an impact. The plate is also modeled using the finite element method and impact analysis is achieved. In the finite element method, the plate is modeled using the layered shell elements. The mechanical properties of the sandwich plate are obtained experimentally. For this purpose, three point bending test and dynamic mechanical analyzing (DMA) test are used. The properties determined experimentally are used in the impact analysis. The results are compared and an agreement is found between the experimental and numerical results.