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Smart Structures and Systems
  Volume 13, Number 4, April 2014 , pages 615-636
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12989/sss.2014.13.4.615
 


Modelling of aluminium foam sandwich panels
Vincenzo D\'Alessandro, Giuseppe Petrone, Sergio De Rosa and Francesco Franco

 
Abstract
    Aluminium Foam Sandwich (AFS) panels are becoming always more attractive in transportation applications thanks to the excellent combination of mechanical properties, high strength and stiffness, with functional ones, thermo-acoustic isolation and vibration damping. These properties strongly depend on the density of the foam, the morphology of the pores, the type (open or closed cells) and the size of the gas bubbles enclosed in the solid material. In this paper, the vibrational performances of two classes of sandwich panels with an Alulight R foam core are studied. Experimental tests, in terms of frequency response function and modal analysis, are performed in order to investigate the effect of different percentage of porosity in the foam, as well as the effect of the random distribution of the gas bubbles. Experimental results are used as a reference for developing numerical models using finite element approach. Firstly, a sensitivity analysis is performed in order to obtain a limit-but-bounded dynamic response, modelling the foam core as a homogeneous one. The experimental-numerical correlation is evaluated in terms of natural frequencies and mode shapes. Afterwards, an update of the previous numerical model is presented, in which the core is not longer modelled as homogeneous. Mass and stiffness are randomly distributed in the core volume, exploring the space of the eigenvectors.
 
Key Words
    aluminium foam; sandwich panel; modal analysis; modelling
 
Address
Vincenzo D\'Alessandro, Giuseppe Petrone, Sergio De Rosa and Francesco Franco: PASTA-Lab, Laboratory for Promoting experiences in Aeronautical Structures and Acoustics Department of Industrial Engineering – Aerospace Section Università degli Studi di Napoli \"Federico II\", via Claudio 21 – 80125 Napoli, Italy
 

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