Original Article
Impact damage testing
on composite marine
sandwich panels, part 1:
Quasi-static indentation
Journal of Sandwich Structures and Materials
2014, Vol. 16(4) 341–376
! The Author(s) 2014
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DOI: 10.1177/1099636214529959
jsm.sagepub.com
Claire De Marco Muscat-Fenech1,
Jeremy Cortis1 and Charles Cassar2
Abstract
High fibre content composite laminate skins use marine grade orthophthalic polyester,
POLYLITEÕ 440-M850 resin and chopped strand mat/woven E-glass for the thin outer
face skins and DIVINYCELLÕ H100 closed-cell linear PVC foam as core. Marine grade
hybrid sandwich panels are designed in accordance with BS EN ISO 12215-5:2008 for
small craft hull construction, using a wet lay-up and cured under vacuum pressure.
Impact damage testing followed ASTM D7766-11 and ASTM D6264-98 procedures A
and B for rigidly supported and simply supported sandwich panels. A review of the
current state of standard testing procedures of marine sandwich panels is described.
Testing using the default hemisphere indentor also included other standard rock geometries – conical, square-based pyramid and flat-faced cylindrical. The damage incurred
under each variation of indentation impact is described, in terms of force, absorbed
energy and indentation displacement. New contact laws are suggested for the different
rock geometries. Destructive sectioning of the panels provides the visual damage
incurred through the thin face skins and core and the roles played by all members
comprising the sandwich panels.
Keywords
Composite, impact, marine, sandwich, vacuum bagging, quasi-static testing
1
2
Faculty of Engineering, University of Malta, Msida, Malta
Buccaneer Boats Ltd., Tarxien Road, Gudja, Malta
Corresponding author:
Claire De Marco Muscat-Fenech, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malta, Msida, MSD 2080, Malta.
Email: [email protected]
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Journal of Sandwich Structures and Materials 16(4)
Introduction
Composite material technology application within the general engineering field is
rapidly increasing. Composite structures are only limited to the designer’s imagination. Reinforced plastic composites are now the material of choice in the marine
craft manufacturing industry. Fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) offers many advantages over more traditional materials (steel, aluminium, wood) such as resistance to
corrosion and rot, high specific material properties, which can be engineered to
one’s own requirements and the ease of forming composite complex shapes. FRP
laminate skins in addition to a marine grade core material, produces sandwich
panels. The variety of sandwich panels produced and method of fabrication ultimately depends upon its location and application on the marine craft. The sandwich
panel construction is closely controlled by maritime classification society rules,
enabling the marine craft to obtain certification.
Laminated composite marine sandwich panels are susceptible to impact damage
events. Such events on the hull are not only limited to the normal hydrostatic
loadings usually associated with high speed craft (HSC) and the associated outof-plane events, but also limited to the impact events of collisions with foreign
objects, which can occur at varying speeds of impact, such as floating debris,
other craft, docks, falling objects and grounding.
Damage on a composite panel is a complex and a dynamic event owing to the
many constituents making up the part. The large global deflections induce membrane and shear deflections. Damage modes in the laminate skin may induce internal delamination, matrix cracking, fibre fracture and ply shear. Damage,
which may occur, is not always clearly visible; however, it can cause a significant
reduction in strength that can lead to premature failure of the laminate of the
overall sandwich panel. Understanding the damage characteristics of a composite
sandwich laminate is therefore essential in order to optimise their design against
such failure.
The investigation involves the quasi-static low-velocity indentation impact
(QSLVII) on seven certifiable marine sandwich panels. Following a brief survey
of literature, a description of the materials and method used in the production
process is given whereby high quality vacuum bagged sandwiches may be fabricated. Reasons are given as to why these specific marine panels are engineered,
following the strict small craft standards and maritime rules. The characterisation
of such panels is highlighted to obtain their important material and mechanical
properties. A review of the current state of standard testing of marine panels is
described, which highlights that, presently, standards do not fully describe sandwich indentation impact since the impact standards commonly only relate to laminates, whilst testing specifically of marine sandwich panels is non-existent. The
standards adopted here only describe what is expected for a hemisphere indentor.
Marine hulls commonly suffer impact from pointed bluff and sharp edge objects
not only from objects which fall on the deck, but also from grounding and impact
incidents when underway. Therefore, these objects are standardised into three other
shapes – conical, pyramid and cylindrical. The testing regime presented here
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343
specifically allows only 50–80% panel penetration, since through panel damage is
not desired in craft hulls since this may result in water ingress and subsequent
foundering. Furthermore, it is also necessary to compliment and consider further
standard tests, such as instrumented drop weight testing reaching the same panel
penetration and residual strength analysis of the damaged panels. The present
damage analysis and the response will be described in terms of the force and
absorbed energy during indentation displacement and how the standard is applied
to all the test variations described here. New contact laws are proposed, which vary
depending on the indentor geometry and ensuing damage. Throughout the discussion, various shortcomings in the standards will be presented: regarding the reporting of the findings; how one is to present the forces and points of first noticeable
damage and localised maximum forces; to show the effect of the two support
configurations; describe how the various indentor geometries effect the results
obtained; destructive sectioning of the panels to report the findings on the skins
and core in terms of fibre failure, fibre pull out, matrix cracking, delamination, core
and face disbanding, core crushing and cracking.
Abrate [1–4] carried out different studies on the impact behaviour of single
skinned laminates presenting different indentation mechanisms and mathematical
models for predicting the damage on composites. Low velocity impact (LVI),
experimental and numerical analysis and the effect of residual strength have been
discussed by Abrate [4], Choi et al. [5, 6], Choi and Chang [7], Finn and Springer
[8], Lakshminarayana [9], Huang [10], Zheng and Sun [11], Zhou [12], Chun and
Lam [13], De Moura et al. [14–16], Hou et al. [17], Davis and Olsson [18], Hosur
et al. [19], Li et al. [20], Bouvet et al. [21], Murthy et al. [22], Loresto and Caprino
[23]. High-velocity impact using non-instrumented drop weight testing including
the effect of variation of impact geometries has been investigated by Sevkat et al.
[24] and Mitrovski et al. [25–27].
Sandwich impact has been investigated by Abrate [28] where he discusses the
relation between the skin displacement and the contact force when in contact with a
spherical indentor. Olsson [29] and Chai and Zhu [30] consider different contact
and impact models depending upon the impactor to panel mass ratios using static
indentation experiments and LVI impacts on sandwich structures. Hazizan and
Cantwell [31] studies LVI of PVC foam-based sandwiches. Wen et al. [32] used
indentors of various geometries and different impact velocities. Borsellino et al. [33]
investigated vacuum bagging sandwich panels with variations in indentor speed
and various skin and core materials. Hasebe and Sun [34] investigated foam core
sandwiches under static and dynamic point loads, whilst Foo et al. [35] used a
modified energy-balance model to predict LVI responses on sandwich composites
as well as applying an finite element analysis (FEA) to static indentation. Simply
supported and rigidly backed sandwich beams of E-glass-epoxy and PVC foam
cores using a single degree of freedom and two degree of freedom (TDOF) models
together with an Abaqus analysis was reported by Sadighi and Pouriayevali [36].
Abot et al. [37] uses the Winkler foundation theory on Divinycell PVC foams with
carbon/epoxy skins on rigid backed and simply supported beams. Hand lay-up and
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Journal of Sandwich Structures and Materials 16(4)
vacuum bagged carbon fibre skin and foam-filled honeycomb was investigated by
Gustin et al. [38] who developed a TDOF spring/mass model. Williamson [39]
impacted panels of graphite/epoxy skins with a honeycomb core. Wang et al.
[40] used different indentor hemispherical diameters on PVC foam cores and
carbon fibre skins. Li et al. [41] tested Rochacell polymethacrylimide (PMI)
foam and unidirectional carbon fibre in a bismatermide (BMI) resin matrix and
studied both quasi-static and dynamic impact. Li et al. [42] carried out further
investigation on low-velocity perforation behaviour of aluminium foam core composite sandwich panels using conical nosed, hemispherical nosed and flat-ended
geometry indentors.
Owing to the growing popularity of the use of composite laminates and sandwich panels in the fabrication of marine craft, it becomes important to understand
the behaviour and properties of E-glass/polyester marine laminates and closed-cell
PVC foam cores. As a result research within this area is starting to emerge.
Sutherland and Soares [43] have investigated low energy impact on low fibre
volume hand lay-up marine skin laminates and have also reported on scaling
[44], impact behaviour [45–47], characterisation [48], and laminate thickness,
matrix resin and reinforcement type [49–51]. Various authors [52–59] have also
investigated water slamming and solid body impacts. De Marco Muscat-Fenech
et al. [60] have also investigated the impact on hand lay-up vacuum packed marine
sandwich panels on design standard hulls.
Characterising composite laminate sandwiches
When designing any composite structure, the properties must be well-defined and
understood. The designer can engineer a composite sandwich fit for its intended
purpose, which results in a specific sandwich for its application. Material (mechanical) properties may be evaluated using theoretical equations; however, experimental verification (usually destructive) using standardised test procedures is
essential for proper modelling and understanding of the characterisation of the
composite sandwich materials. These composite materials usually have non-homogenous structures and their properties are dependent on many factors, such as the
reinforcements, property of the matrix, volume/mass fraction of the phases (also
dependent on the fabrication process) and core material.
The marine panels investigated here have undergone an in-depth testing regime
to determine the tensile, compressive and flexural properties required for understanding the sandwich response to inflicted damage. The properties have been
determined for the faces acting alone, when fabricated using traditional methods
and cured under both natural curing conditions and when using the vacuum
backed curing process. Improvement of the laminate skins, for the constituent
laminates described here, is well-documented and recorded by De Marco
Muscat-Fenech and Cortis [61] and Cortis et al. [62]. Additionally, the sandwich
hull panels have also been characterised by De Marco Muscat-Fenech et al. [63]
following the standard ASTM testing procedures to obtain the panel characteristics
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De Marco Muscat-Fenech et al.
345
necessary to define the response of the panels to the indentation, impact damage
and global working conditions. The material (mechanical) properties are presented
during the description of the design of the hull sandwich panels.
Composite materials used and method of fabrication of hull panels
The application considered here is for manufacture of planning craft for a local
boat builder. The reinforcement fabrics used for the construction of the composites
in this research are mainly chopped strand mat (CSM) and woven roving. The glass
fibre is E-glass. The CSM used is made up of PPG called Mat 92, having an average
fibre diameter of 11 mm. The binder holding the fibre strands together is an emulsion and it is therefore very easy to work around with complex shapes. Woven
roving cloths plain weave consisting of equal warp and weft, passes over each other
in a symmetrical fashion. The resin used was the Reichhold POLYLITEÕ 440M850 orthophtalic polyester resin. For an ambient temperature of 20 C, a 1%
catalyst of methyl ethyl ketone peroxide (MEKP) hardener was employed to
begin the polymerisation process, giving a gel time of about 45 min.
The foam core being used in this investigation, sandwiched between the outer
thin skin layers, is a closed-cell cross-linked PVC foam called DivinycellÕ H100 by
DIAB group (Figure 1). This PVC foam exhibits high strength-to-density ratio and
is compatible with most of the resin systems used including those having high
styrene content. It is suitable for both hand laminating and vacuum pressure,
having a density of 100 kg/m3. The core has good chemical resistance, low water
absorption and good thermal insulation properties. The foam comes in different
finishes, including ‘double-cut’ finish which has been chosen for this research; this
finish involves cutting the core in a 0 and 90 pattern on both sides of the core, with
an offset equal to half the size of a cut between the upper and lower sides. This type
of finish was chosen since it has two main uses. Firstly, it can be used in small
curvatures without the need of using a scrim (which is an additional layer of fibre
glass cloth attached to the foam). Secondly, since the cuts overlap each other, both
air and resin can easily flow through the foam thereby providing a good bond
between the skins and the core. The hand lay-up resin and foam core material is
designed specifically for marine, industrial and transport application and is also
Figure 1. The double cut closed-cell cross-linked PVC foam DivinycellÕ H100 by DIAB,
thickness 10 mm, 20 mm and 30 mm.
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Journal of Sandwich Structures and Materials 16(4)
certified by most classification societies (Lloyds, DNV, BV, RINA) for use in
marine applications.
Vaccum bagging fabrication is accomplished using the VacmobileTM 20/2, which
is a complete unit incorporating a vacuum pump, a resin catch pot and a pressure
regulating valve (all in one unit). The vacuum pump can handle 18 m3/h of air, and
can reach 99% vacuum, at a pressure of 10 mbar or 29.5 in. of mercury.
Vacuum-bagged sandwich panel fabrication procedure: The foam core sheets of
the required thicknesses were cut into 600 mm 600 mm. The edges were tapered at
an angle of 45 so that the vacuum bagging consumables (mostly the peel-ply and
breather fabric) would be easily removed after the curing stage.
The moulds were prepared by applying a couple of coats of mould release wax to
the surface, which will aid in the removal of the panel once it has been cured. At
least six coats were applied at intervals of between 15 and 30 min to avoid the
laminate sticking to the mould. The reinforcement fabrics for the skins were cut
into 600 mm 600 mm and weighed, and the amount of fibre reinforcement in the
panel was noted. The mass of the reinforcement fabric was multiplied by 1.5 in
order to approximately determine the mass of resin required. The resin was catalysed with 1% of MEKP hardener so that sufficient time is allowed for the layup
and the bagging consumables to be set-up.
The process started by applying resin on the mould using a brush, before placing
the first layer of fibreglass fabric. The layers making up one skin were added one by
one, whilst at the same time applying resin to wet out the fibres. The last fabric
layer before the foam core was wet excessively with resin, so that when the vacuum
is applied, this excess resin could travel into the grooves of the core. The foam core
is then added and another resin-rich layer of fibreglass mat is then applied over it.
Again the excess resin enters the grooves that are found inside the core, which are
useful when the shape of the mould includes some simple contours and curves.
Once the rest of the fabric layers were laid and wet with resin, the peel ply was
applied on top of the last layer and squeezed with a plastic squeegee. This process
helps the peel ply to absorb some resin and avoid any streaks, which would show
up in the final laminate. Any air bubbles present were squeezed out to prevent
wrinkles that may otherwise show up in the laminate, thus compromising on the
final surface finish of the panel. The P3 perforated release film was then applied
over the peel ply. This layer is placed on top of the peel-ply fabric and controls the
volume of resin to be absorbed by the breather fabric, which is the next layer to be
added. The vacuum bag was then attached to the periphery of the mould using
mastic sealant tape and a vacuum connector was placed in the bag but outside the
panel area. A small tear was made in the bag and the vacuum pipe was inserted into
the vacuum bag. The pipe was then sealed to the bag using a couple of turns
of mastic sealant tape wrapped around the vacuum pipe. A vacuum of 0.5 bar
(or 14 in. of mercury) was applied to the laminate and left to cure under vacuum
for about 4 to 6 h at room temperature. Once the laminate was cured, it was left for
24 h with the vacuum pump disconnected and the mass of the panel was measured,
in order to determine the weight percentage of reinforcement used. The breather
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De Marco Muscat-Fenech et al.
347
fabric absorbs excess resin that pass through the perforated release film. This process was repeated for three other different panels so that a total of four panels could
be manufactured simultaneously, Figure 2.
Figure 3 shows the thicker traditionally made laminate panel with natural curing
conditions with a resulting glass fibre content of 25 vol.% (35–40 mass%); a second
laminate panel equivalent in fabric content as the first, fabricated using the hand
lay-up and cured under vacuum pressure, showing the reduced thickness of such
vacuum-bagged laminates reaching 45% fibre volume fractions (65% fibre by mass)
and 40% reduction in thickness (Figure 4) and the marine hybrid sandwich panel
also fabricated and cured under vacuum pressure. Cortis and De Marco MuscatFenech [62] and De Marco Muscat-Fenech and Cortis [61, 63] have reported the
results of increased mechanical properties of the vacuum-cured laminates over the
naturally cured laminates as well as of the vacuum-bagged sandwich panels.
Design of the hull sandwich panels
In order to design strong and effective panels, the BS EN ISO 12215-5 [64] standard
was used. This standard is the established small craft building standard for hull
scantling determination. The builders must follow one of the widely available
standards in order to obtain the CE certification required to sell the boats to the
Figure 2. Four of the hybrid sandwich panels being cured under vacuum pressure during
manufacturing.
Figure 3. Skin laminate panels using traditional hand lay-up, natural curing (middle), hand layup vacuum bagging (top), vacuum bagged sandwich panels (bottom) [61].
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Journal of Sandwich Structures and Materials 16(4)
Figure 4. Illustration of the reduction in thickness due to the vacuum pressure acting
laminate made up of woven roving and mat: (a) shows the hand lay-up which has much
resin (light grey areas) and less mechanical linking between the fibres (dark grey areas);
shows the effect of applying vacuum pressure across the laminate surface. Reduction in
ness occurs due to better compaction of the fibres and less resin content [62].
on a
more
(b)
thick-
local and international customers. During the course of the investigation, a FACTS
Hull Property Calculator [65] provides a framework for the boat designer to engineer the best combination of skin and core material, to produce a lightweight and
certifiable hull and structure. This model uses boat craft hull dimensions, craft
design speed and panel sizes, for which the hydrostatic pressures, in the displacement and planning mode, acting on each part of the hull (bottom and side) and
deck can be determined. Knowing the pressures which act on the craft, values of
minimum skin and core thicknesses with the correct material properties may be
computed. This marine hybrid sandwich panel is then subjected to the computed
pressure applied to the DNV Rules for high speed light craft (HSLC) [66]. The
model investigates the face stress to skin ultimate strength ratio, the core shear
stress to ultimate shear strength ratio and overall panel deflection. These ratios and
deflection all have criteria, which must be passed according to the HSLC code for
the craft to be certified – the final aim for any boat builder.
Two of the most popular boat models produced by the manufacturer were used
to size the panels for the testing regime described here. However, the procedure can
be equally adapted and applied to different sized craft. The design pressure and
hence the thickness of the panels depends upon the panel size between two stiffeners and bulkheads of the hull. The new sandwich panels will be overall thicker
than the single skin panels; however, the panel area may be increased in order to
reduce the number of stiffeners and hence reduce the weight of the hull. Panel sizes
ranged from the standard 700 mm 300 mm (used in single skin hull construction)
up to a maximum of 2100 mm 900 mm. As the panel sizes get larger, the force on
the panel also increases for the same pressure; this results in an overall increase in
panel thickness. The required inputs to start the sandwich panel design include the
boat’s length of hull, waterline length, beam, maximum cruising speed and dead
rise angle at 0.4 times the waterline length. For hulls having a length less than 9 m,
a design category factor needs to be determined, which in this case takes the value
of 0.6 for CE design category C. The standard stipulates that this design category
refers to boats, which are able to operate in inshore seas with significant wave
heights of up to 2 m and a wind force of Beaufort Scale 6 or less. The dynamic
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De Marco Muscat-Fenech et al.
349
load factor is calculated next, which is a value of the acceleration expressed in g’s
that the hull experiences at a certain wave height. The design area is also input and
the pressures are then calculated, at different locations along the hull for both
displacement and planning modes. For calculations involving panel thicknesses,
only the design pressures in planning mode are considered, since the planning
pressures exceed the displacement mode pressures. Other calculated design pressures include the side and the deck pressures. The pressures resulting on the side
and deck will result in values lower than the bottom planning pressure. These
pressures are evaluated so that the side or deck panel thickness may be determined.
When designing the sandwich panels there are many geometrical features of the
craft that the designer must know and take into consideration for sandwich design.
In addition to these geometrical attributes, the material characteristic of both the
laminate skins and core are required. Typical required values are of tensile and
compressive ultimate strength of the skin and its associated fibre volume fraction,
skin and core tensile and compressive moduli, core shear modulus, core ultimate
shear strength.
FACTS Sandwich Panel Property Calculator [65] utilises sandwich beam and
plate theory. This concept model allows the user to input the face and core properties and geometrical information, whilst checking that thin skin sandwich criteria
are fulfilled. This model besides evaluating the flexural rigidity, shear stiffness and
deflections of these panel, also analyses possible potential failure modes when
forces are applied to various sizes panel plates for point loading at the panel midpoint or when distributed loads are applied.
The sandwich panels were designed with symmetrical skins because both skins
have their own importance. The outside skin is the side which directly faces an
impact, whilst the inner skin is the skin on which the deck compartment will be
mounted on and, therefore, it must resist impact loads when passengers move or
something relatively heavy is dropped on the floor of the deck.
Seven different panels were designed, with core thicknesses ranging from 10 up
to 30 mm. These panels represent the different design panel areas used in order to
reduce the number of wooden stiffeners and hence total craft weight. Table 1 shows
the seven panels that were fabricated, including the core thickness and the face
sheet constituents. The face sheets comprise CSM and woven rovings (denoted by
w next to the mass density of the fibres). The skin thickness was measured using a
micrometer having an accuracy of 0.01. Table 2 describes the sandwich panel
material and mechanical properties, together with the ASTM standards used
during the panel characterisation.
Impact damage resistance testing
The British Standard has a few standards describing impact on rigid plastic, but
none on sandwich panels. Of notable interest for impact of rigid plastic composite
panels are BS EN ISO 7765 [67] for laminates with thicknesses less than 1 mm,
whilst for laminates of thickness greater than 4 mm testing falls within the scope of
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Journal of Sandwich Structures and Materials 16(4)
Table 1. The sandwich panels constituents according to BS EN ISO 12215-5 [64].
Panel name
Core thickness
(mm)
Fibre sheets in each skin
Skin thickness
(mm)
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
10
10
15
15
20
25
30
450CSM,
450CSM,
300CSM,
450CSM,
450CSM,
450CSM,
300CSM,
0.81
0.67
1.35
2.03
1.22
2.03
1.76
450CSM
300CSM
450CSM, 400w,
450CSM, 600w,
600w, 450CSM
450CSM, 600w,
450CSM, 600w,
450CSM
450CSM, 450CSM
450CSM, 450CSM
450CSM, 300CSM
Table 2. Sandwich panel material (mechanical) properties and ASTM standards used for the
panel characterisation.
Panel
ASTM Standard
A
Effective sandwich flexural
stiffness/rigidity,
D (106 Nmm2)
Sandwich shear rigidity,
S 10s (N)
Facing ultimate strength,
FU (MPa)
Core shear modulus, G MPa
(manufacturer’s data ¼ 35 MPa)
Effective facing chord modulus,
Ef (GPa) – tensile
Effective facing chord modulus,
Ef (GPa) – compresssive
Core shear allowable strength
(manufacturer’s data ¼ 1.6 MPa)
Fsult (MPa)
Core shear yield strength,
FSyield (MPa)
Facing stress at core shear
failure, f (MPa)
B
C
D
E
F
G
D7250M-06 49.6
45.3
248
374
393
945
1160
D7250M-06 32.3
33.4
42.9
44.0 46.1 61.0 67.8
D7249M-06 140
161
169
143
D7250M-06 46.0
37.3
31.1
29.1 26.7 27.3 26.5
D7249M-06 10.9
13.2
16.3
15.9 18.0 17.1 16.8
D7249M-06 12.3
15.0
16.5
15.1 18.5 19.6 20.7
C393M-06
1.69
1.39
1.95
2.23 1.65 2.14 1.87
C393M-06
1.5
1.2
1.7
1.8
C393M-06
133.8 140.5 101.7 81.3 98.7 81.5 79.0
144
1.5
141
1.6
131
1.7
BS EN ISO 6603-1 (non-instrumented) [68] and BS EN ISO 6602-2 (instrumented) [69], using the falling dart technique. BS EN ISO 6603-1 [68] characterises the impact behaviour of plastics by an energy criterion of a failure based on a
threshold value of impact failure-failure energy, such that the energy is estimated
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De Marco Muscat-Fenech et al.
351
for 50% of the specimens to fail, and any failure or fissure on the surface
of the specimen is visible by the naked eye without penetrating the full thickness
of the material. This failure is achieved by either altering the falling mass
or height of fall. Whilst the instrumented test procedure determines the puncture impact properties of these rigid plastic through the measurements of
force and deflection throughout the impact time, as well as the impact velocity.
The striker for such tests is hemispherical impactors with diameter of either
10 mm or 20 mm (default). However, no BS EN ISO standard exists to test
any sandwich or even marine grade sandwich panels under impact loading
scenarios.
The standards referring to impact test methods on sandwich constructions are
provided by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), under the
prerogative of D30.05 on structural test methods and D30.09 on sandwich
construction.
Also as outlined above, there exists no standard that specifies what tests need to
be followed to test marine hull panels or structures according to ASTM standards.
The subcommittee introduced the D30.05.01 for Civil and Marine Testing, with the
aim of introducing such testing procedures for these applications. Also specific
standards to establish whether a composite or a marine sandwich structure is
able to support impact loads during operation is not available and which is the
focus of this present study.
Standards regulating the impact damage resistance testing of sandwich
constructions
In 2011, ASTM published the standard ASTM D7766-11 [70] (under the jurisdiction of the subcommittee D30.09). This standard brings together the test
methods found in the standards for single skin laminates ASTM D6264 [71] and
D7136 [72], which are to be applied to sandwich constructions and QSLVII.
It consists of three main procedures called A, B and C, each having a different
purpose and use.
Procedure A involves an indentation test of a rigidly backed specimen. An outof-plane concentrated force is applied so that damage is imparted on the specimen
surface using a hemispherical indentor at a low speed. The size of the dent, location
and type of damage resulting from the applied indentation gives an idea of the
damage suffered by the panel.
Procedure B involves the low-speed indentation impact of a specimen, which is
supported at the edges. This procedure is very similar to procedure A, but the
specimen is now supported at the edges such that it is allowed to deflect.
Damage on the specimen is again quantified by the depth and size of the indentation, the location and the type of failure observed at the skin and/or core.
Procedure C of the standard involves performing a drop weight impact test on a
sandwich specimen supported at the edges. This is different from the previous two
methods which are quasi-static, i.e. performed at low speeds.
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Journal of Sandwich Structures and Materials 16(4)
The standard specifies that the most suitable procedure to evaluate and compare different damage characteristics for different sandwich panels is procedure
A, since the rigidly supported specimen prevents out-of-plane deflection of
the specimen. Therefore, the sandwich flexural stiffness does not influence damage initiation in the specimen. A hemispherical indentor is specified as having
a geometry, which has, over the years, generated a larger amount of
internal damage for a given amount of external damage, used mainly in applications for plastics. However, in addition to the standard hemisphere other
‘rock’ geometries also produce damage of interest to both hull and sandwich
manufacturers. In this investigation, all the procedures outlined in standard
ASTM D7766 [70] and ASTM D6264 procedures A and B [71] shall be followed in order to determine quasi-static indentation impact loading damage
assessments. The drop weight impact testing following ASTM D7136,
procedure C [72] is the subject of another investigation by De Marco MuscatFenech et al. [73].
Experimental design requirements
The testing apparatus for carrying out a quasi-static indentation test was designed
and built in-house according to the ASTM D6264 [71] standard, using procedures
A and B. A force is applied to the panel by pushing a hemispherical (default)
indentor into the marine sandwich panel. The displacement of the indentor is
increased until a required damage state is reached. The contact force and indentor
displacement are noted so that a force–indentation displacement curve can be
plotted and analysed.
The apparatus for testing follow the standard comprising a lower support fixture
consisting of a flat rigid plate of dimensions 300 mm 300 mm and thickness of
30 mm. The flat support is fixed to the machine base using the recommended metal
T lower support fixture. For procedure A, the sandwich hull panels sit on the flat
plate to perform the rigidly back tests. A plate of dimensions 200 mm 200 mm of
thickness 40 mm (the thickness of the plate was set to 40 mm, since as specified in
the standard; the thickness must be greater than the expected maximum indentor
displacement, panel G is of thickness approximately 35 mm) with an opening of
127.0 mm, with the tip rim of the opening rounded to a radius of 0.75 mm sits on
top of the rigid plate to allow the simply supported configuration for procedure B.
An upper fixture connects the indentor to the load cell of the Instron 4206 tensile
testing machine via the indentor housing. The indentor which is to strike, indent
and penetrate the sandwich panel is hemispherical with a diameter of 12.7 0.1 mm
(default), as shown in Figure 5.
In order to simulate the different indentation impact loads that can be experienced by the sandwich panels during operation, different indentors were designed to
simulate varying and different damage requirements, as shown in Figure 6.
Common grounding scenario implies that the boat hull can be hit by sharp pointed
rock edges, which define the need to indent the sandwich panels with a sharp object.
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Figure 5. Hemispherical indentor, 12.7 mm diameter.
Figure 6. Indentors – cylindrical, conical, square based pyramid.
A conical indentor simulates the rocks type of a sharp cutting tip and bluff
edges, which push and open through the composite laminate and core material.
The apex angle is 30 , with an indent depth of 46.7 mm. A pyramid-shaped indentor was designed, having a sharp point and four edges, leading to a square base
having sides of 28.28 mm of diagonal 40 mm. The sharp tip pierces and penetrates
the composite surface and edges cuts through the laminate and core as the damage
is being widened. The apex angle was kept fixed at 30 to give an overall length
indent depth of 52.8 mm from the square base to the apex. A cylindrical indentor
was also designed to simulate the rock impact. The cylinder is of diameter 15 mm
and an overall length of 40 mm. The blunt flat front compresses the composite
surface and core materials. The sharp circular edge cuts through the surface and
foam. All indentors are made up of EN24 (molybdenum nickel chromium) alloy
steel, with a surface hardness of 60 to 62 HRC. This steel possesses high shock
resistance and good impact properties at low temperatures. The complete upper
assembly is shown in Figure 7.
Simulating slow speed indentation impact damage scenarios
of sandwich hull panels
The test procedure is in accordance with procedures A and B of standard ASTM
D7766-11 [70]. The preparation and test procedure is in accordance with standard
ASTM D6264-98 [71], but applied and modified for sandwich constructions.
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Journal of Sandwich Structures and Materials 16(4)
Figure 7. (a) Assembled testing rig for the rigidly backed specimen configuration – procedure
A; (b) assembled testing rig for the simply supported specimen configuration – procedure B.
Procedure A: Rigidly backed specimens. The specimens were cut into a size of
75 mm2 75 mm2 since larger specimens as stated in the standard are not required
(Figure 8(a) and (b)). The size of the specimen chosen, after careful consideration,
ensured that the dent periphery was concentrated at the centre and there was sufficient area around the dent periphery where no damage was visible.
Procedure B: Edge supported specimens. The specimen size was fixed at
152 mm2 152 mm2, as per the standard so that the specimens fit onto the
200 mm 200 mm plate containing the 127 mm hole, which allows the specimens
to deflect under load (Figure 8(c) and (d)).
The centre of the specimen is marked to ensure that the specimen’s centre is in
line with the centreline of the indentor, which is not to exceed a 1 mm difference.
Load is applied to the specimen at a constant loading rate of 1.25 mm/min for cores
with low compressive strength such as foams and honeycombs. The maximum
force to act on the specimen during the test should ideally be reached within
1 to 10 min after initial application of the load. The machine cross-head was
stopped within 50–80% through-thickness indentation, but definitely before penetration of the inner bottom skin, to ensure that no damage occurs to the indentor
and to the rigid plate, particularly in the case of the rigidly backed specimen configuration. Hulls need to be designed to resist impacts, which are not through
thickness. Such damage would allow water ingress and could result in the loss of
the vessel and potential loss of life at sea. Furthermore, CAI testing according to
ASTM [74] should also be undertaken on such panels to evaluate the residual
strength of the concerned hull panels. The tensile testing machine recorded
values of force (kN) against crosshead displacement (mm), which enabled a
graph of indentation force (kN) versus indentor displacement (mm) to be plotted
for each of the samples. The maximum force required to fully puncture the upper
skin and the core (except for the lower skin) was also recorded so that the indentor
that causes the greatest amount of damage was noted.
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Figure 8. Quasi-static indentation testing using the different indentor shapes: (a) procedure
A – hemispherical indentor; (b) procedure A – conical indentor; (c) procedure B – pyramid
indentor; (d) procedure B – cylindrical indentor.
The periphery of the dent is measured using a depth gauge. The depth gauge is
zeroed at 25 to 50 mm away from the centre of the specimen, where the specimen is
flat. When the depth gauge is moved to the centre, the peripheral point can be
identified as being that point at which the depth gauge starts giving a non-zero
reading. The maximum dent diameter can be determined using the distance
between the two points which are furthest from each other. Although the dent
diameter measurement is recommended in the standard, it is reported that depending upon the indentor causing the damage, the dent diameter measurement as
described here reveals no significant importance except visual observation. It is
more productive to view and report on the face (and bottom) skin and internal
damage in terms of fibre failure, fibre pull out, matrix cracking, delamination, core
and face disbanding, core crushing and cracking.
Each of the different designed indentors represent a particular impact scenario.
Different indentations types and sizes are expected using different shapes. Using
this test, a boat designer/builder may determine what failure mode is expected
when the outer hull made up of a sandwich panel will be subjected to grounding
or hitting of a sharp-edged object during service. The designer may also alter the
design to see what core/skin thickness combination (within the strictly controlled
maritime guidelines) would be best to resist such loads and where failure is likely to
occur.
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Journal of Sandwich Structures and Materials 16(4)
All four indentors and seven panels were tested following both procedures and
each test was repeated for a minimum of five times.
Quasi-static test results – procedure A: Rigidly backed configuration
The complete set of curves for all indentors and panels are shown in Figure 9. All
plots show that each indentor geometry produce similar trends for all the seven
panels.
In the following discussion panel F, having a skin thickness of 2.04 mm and a
core thickness of 25 mm is chosen to be indicative of all the panels. The force–
displacement graph shown in Figure 10 for the hemispherical indentor indicates
(b) 4.0
(a) 1.50
3.5
1.25
F
3.0
B
2.5
0.75
C
0.50
A
Force (kN)
Force (kN)
1.00
D
E
F
E
1.5
G
1.0
G
0.25
B
0.5
0.0
0
2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0
Indentor Displacement (mm)
(d)
(c) 4.0
5
10
15
20
25
Indentor Displacement (mm)
F
50
40
35
2.5
30
Force (kN)
3.0
2.0
E
1.5
G
D
F
25
20
15
D C
1.0
B
5
E
A
B
5
0
0.0
0
C
10
A
0.5
30
45
G
3.5
C
A
0.0
0.00
Force (kN)
D
2.0
10
15
20
25
Indentor Displacement (m)
30
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Indentor Displacement
Figure 9. Graphs of force (kN) versus indentor displacement (mm) for: (a) hemispherical; (b)
conical; (c) pyramid; and (d) cylindrical indentors in a rigidly backed specimen configuration,
procedure A, for all panels.
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De Marco Muscat-Fenech et al.
357
that at the increase in load, the graph shows that a first noticeable damage point is
always present. This position occurs at an indentation depth of ts to 1.3ts, (where ts
is the skin thickness). This point indicates that damage is occurring at the interface
between the top skin and core. The force continues to increase and peaks produce a
localised maximum at an indentation of approximately 2.5ts. This position indicates that the upper skin is completely punctured.
Figure 11 shows the average first noticeable damage and localised maximum
points for each panel. A separate study is currently underway, analysing the contact law for the initial force increase before the localised maximum is reached,
F ¼ kn (where F is the contact force, k is the contact stiffness, the indentation
displacement and n is a constant) and additionally employing finite element analysis methods has shown that the force–indentation displacement is not linear, i.e.
n ¼ 1 as often suggested for sandwich panels [1, 4, 29, 30, 36] nor is n ¼ 1.5 for
monolithic laminates [3, 4, 30, 37] but follows the power law of n ¼ 1.3. Whilst
Abrate [1, 2] suggests n ¼ 0.8 for a hemisphere. The power index has been validated
throughout experimental testing. The energy absorbed during the indentation
impact process was also analysed. From the start of indentation to the localised
maximum peak, the absorbed energy follows an n ¼ 2.3 power law. The foam is soft
compared to the composite skin. The foam material under the advancing indentor
offers reducing resistance as the foam thickness decreases, as a result the force value
also decreases.
The force–indentation plot during the conical indentation process is shown in
Figure 12. The graphs show that two contact curves are required to describe the
whole process. The crossover occurs at an indentation depth of approximately ts.
Initially as the force increases during indentation of the face, the power index is
10
1.4
n = 1.3
9
1.2
Force (kN)
7
6
0.8
5
0.6
4
Absorbed energy
n=1
0.4
3
Ansorbed Energy (J)
8
1.0
2
0.2
Absorbed energy n = 2.3
1
0
0.0
0
5
10
15
Indentor Displacement (mm)
Figure 10. Force (kN), absorbed energy (J) versus indentor displacement (mm) for
hemispherical indentor – panel F.
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Journal of Sandwich Structures and Materials 16(4)
9
8
7
Force (kN)
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
A
B
C
First Nocable Damage
D
E
F
G
Localised Max
Figure 11. Force of first noticeable damage and localised maximum for the hemisphere
indentor.
Figure 12. Force (kN), absorbed energy (J) versus indentor displacement (mm) for conical
indentor – panel F.
n ¼ 0.8, following which a linear trend line fits the remaining experimental data.
The energy absorbed during the whole process is obtained from data acquisition
during the tests. The energy trend curve, fits a power index, n ¼ 1.8, which compliments the findings just described for the force–indentation plots adopting an
n ¼ 0.8 power law. The composite skin and core offer little resistance as the point
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De Marco Muscat-Fenech et al.
359
Figure 13. Force (kN), absorbed energy (J) versus indentor displacement (mm) for pyramid
indentor – panel F.
Figure 14. Comparison between the conical and pyramid indentor – panel F.
pierces its way first through the skin and sub-sequentially through the core. The
steady increase in force value is due to the increasing cross-sectional area penetrating the specimen at a uniform rate, and therefore the damage imparted to the
specimen also increases uniformly. Reporting maximum force, as dictated by the
standard has no significant meaning for such an indentor. The force will keep on
increasing so long as the advancing cross-sectional area increases.
The graph in Figures 9(c) and 13 show the pyramid indentor results. These
are very similar to the conical indentor, following the initial power law and
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360
Journal of Sandwich Structures and Materials 16(4)
1.0
0.9
Force (kN)
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
A
B
C
Conical
D
E
Pyramid
F
G
Figure 15. Comparison of forces between the conical and pyramid indentor at the skin core
interface – panel F.
Figure 16. Force (kN), absorbed energy (J) versus indentor displacement (mm) for cylindrical
indentor – panel F.
linear trend after top skin penetration. The cross-sectional area penetrating the
specimen also increases with indentor travel producing the increase in force
trend with indentation displacement. However, the damage mechanisms vary; the
conical indentor opens the fibres around the smooth circular surface area, while the
pyramid cuts its way through. These effects described here are shown when comparing the force–indentation plot of the conical versus pyramid plot of Figures 14
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De Marco Muscat-Fenech et al.
361
9
8
7
Force (kN)
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
A
B
1st damage
C
D
2nd damage
E
F
G
Localised Max
Figure 17. Force of noticeable damage and local maximum for the cylindrical indentor.
and 15. The cutting action of the pyramid requires a greater force. While the skin to
interface penetration force damage is less for the conical indentor as it separates the
fibre, which for the pyramid requires a cutting process.
The force–indentation travel for the cylindrical indentor is shown in Figures 9(d)
and 16, in which the greatest damage occurred. During the initial stages during
increase in force, for all the seven panels, before reaching the local maximum, there
are two noticeable damage points occurring on average at 0.6ts and 1.5ts, whereas
the local maximum occurs within a 2ts to 3ts range. The force values at the two
damage points and at the local maximum when the skin fractures and starts
to penetrate and compress the core is shown in Figure 17. During the initial
force increase a best power trend line fits, n ¼ 0.8 confirming the experimental
findings that the absorbed energy also follows a power law curve of n ¼ 1.8.
Immediately following the local maximum the force drops abruptly, which is
when the upper skin is perforated.
In Figure 17, the forces experienced by all panels are compared with the cylindrical indentor at each of the identifiable damage positions. The skin face is punctured and produces a disc-shaped plate. The force required during this disc-forming
process results in the local maximum force far greater than for any other indentation impact scenario, as shown in Figure 18. As the disc advances, the core is
compressed. Finally, as the indentor approaches the bottom face and the core is
crushed against the rigid back supported by the bottom plate, which does not allow
any deflection of the lower skin, the force increases rapidly.
The maximum force comparison required to penetrate the upper skin and up to
80% of the core thickness in the rigidly backed configuration is shown in Figure 19,
for the hemispherical, pyramid, conical and cylindrical indentors, respectively.
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362
Journal of Sandwich Structures and Materials 16(4)
8
7
Force (kN)
6
5
Cylindrical
4
3
Pyramid
Conical
2
1
Hemisphere
0
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Indentor Displacement (mm)
Figure 18. Graphs of force (kN) versus indentor displacement (mm), panel F – procedure A.
9
8
Maximun Force (kN)
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
A
B
Hemisphere
C
D
E
Conical
Pyramid
F
G
Cylindrical
Figure 19. Maximum force required to penetrate approximately 80% of the sandwich panel
with a rigidly backed configuration – procedure A.
Figure 19 shows the maximum force attained to indent and penetrate the skin
thickness. These force values give an indication of the importance of skin thickness,
laminate composition and layup. Table 1 gives the combination layups, which
required a CSM layer as a final outside layer to ensure a good cosmetic appearance
of the finished hull. Considering that these panels and skin layup result from the BS
EN ISO 12215-5 design criteria, whereby these panels have to support the hydrostatic and hydrodynamic pressures and have adequate bending stiffness according
to span support as dictated in the standard. The maximum force values, for all the
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De Marco Muscat-Fenech et al.
363
indentors generally follow the same trend. Panels D and F have the greatest thickness of 2.03 mm with the 600w middle layer and two 450CSM outer layers. Panel G
of thickness 1.76 mm also has five layers; however, the outer 300CSM influences the
force values and results in a slightly lower value. Panel E of three layers and
thickness 1.22 mm follows. Panel C comprises four layers of thickness 1.35 mm
with a 400w, 300CSM and 450CSM/2, followed by the thinnest skin sandwiches
A (0.81 mm) and B (0.67 mm) comprising only CSM. The central woven layers play
a crucial role of the maximum force attained; however, when designing the hull
skins, the designer has to be aware that the woven pattern must not be visible on
the finished hull surface. Following this, it is also recommended that the outer skin
is thicker than the inner, thus ensuring a greater impact resistance with less overall
weight.
Visual damage discussion. Figure 20(a) shows the damage that has occurred as a result
of the 12.5 mm diameter hemispherical indentor. The surface surrounding the
material, roughly stretching to an additional 10% radius, shows the whitening
characteristic of skin delamination, fibre detaching from the resin; however, due
to the low resin content due to the vacuum bagging process, this area is very
contained around the indentor periphery. The face skin fractures in a very characteristic method of stretching around a hemisphere and producing a cap head. The
edges of the skin laminate are clearly seen to have suffered delamination and are
pushed into the core material. The indentor is pushed into the panel to approximately half the panel thickness. The sectioned core material readily shows that the
core has been compressed, shown by the darker shade of core colour; however, the
core has also shown to have sufficient resistance to the indentor, since the panel
groves which are resin-filled during the manufacturing process do not show any
visual failure. Finally, very little recovery, if any, of the foam is noticed in the time
delay between testing and visual inspection.
The conical indentor has, as described above, also produce an outer ring of the
whitened skin, as the fibres within this region are detached from the resin (Figure
20(b)). The different diameters visible on the specimens are due to the fact that the
panels have various thicknesses and the indentor travel into the material is a function of the panel thickness in order to reach the same 80% through-thickness
penetration. The point of the indentor pierces its way through the skin and as it
enters the core pulls down the skin opening up the fibres, which eventually fracture
in a globally brittle tensile manner. The delaminated fibres push the core below the
immediate surface apart as the cross-sectional area increases as the indentor
advances. Virtually no core compression immediately surrounding the advancing
indentor is noted. Again the resin-filled groove shows no sign of visual failure due
to the core’s resistance to the damage.
The pyramid has a pointed tip and sharp cutting edges. The point pierces the
face skin and the edges cut and slice through the face. Although delamination is
noted in the final cross section, this is due to the fact that the skin turns down onto
the core, in fact the turned down skin shows a near plane face indicating the cutting
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Figure 20. Damage sustained on the sandwich panels with a rigidly backed configuration – procedure A. (a) Hemisphere, (b) Conical, (c)
Pyramid and (d) Cylindrical.
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Journal of Sandwich Structures and Materials 16(4)
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action rather than the fibres being pulled out as described for the hemispherical and
conical indentor. The sharp edges are noted both on the skin and in the core
(Figure 20(c)).
Figure 20(d) shows the 15 mm diameter cylindrical indentor damage. The face
whitened area extends slightly further out than in the previous cases to approximately an additional 25% of the radius. This increase is due to the cutting rim and
flat face of the cylinder. The face and rim act as a punch, which forms a skin flat
cap and a reasonable smooth edge with minimal fibre filaments considering the
aggressive nature of the skin facture. The core below the flat cap is pushed down
and the core closed cells are compressed. Interestingly, as the core moves down, the
crack path is diverging outwards. A characteristic that is commonly encountered
with crack paths are those that are made to advance by pushing with the material
collapsing in front of the progressing damage force. This has been reported in sheet
material crack path directions [75, 76]. Also the resin-filled groove withstood the
advancing flat cap and it can clearly be seen that the cap moved sideways to avoid
the stiffened resin-filled region. Finally, the right side below the flat cap the core is
seen to be compressed even further and actually breaking and flaking apart.
Quasi-static test results – Procedure B: Simply supported configuration
Figure 21 shows the complete set of curves for all indentors and panels, which were
repeated five times. It is readily observed that in procedure B, simply supported
configuration graphs are very similar to that of the rigidly backed in Procedure A.
In this set up, the panel being simply supported will allow some overall panel
deflection, and the differences in the graph as reported for procedure A can be
attributed to the support variation.
Figure 21(a) for the hemispherical indentors shows that the point of first noticeable damage is also present. However, this damage point occurs within a narrow
range of indentation, between ts and 1.15ts, while the local maximum force is
delayed compared to the rigid backed configuration on an average to between
2.7ts and 3.2ts indentation displacement. The contact law for the initial stages of
force increase, to the point of first noticeable damage shows a power contact law is
applicable, n ¼ 1.3. From this point to the local maximum, a linear trend line fits,
n ¼ 1. However, it must be stated that these two equations cannot be replaced by
one single linear, n ¼ 1 trend line, as often stated in various literatures [1, 4, 29, 30,
36]. The simply support configuration allows the panel to flex within the circular
opening and this produces a reduced stiffness effect. Figure 22 compares the
important force values of the rigid backed and simply supported configurations
when impact indented with the hemisphere. Due to the absence of flexure in the
rigid backed, the first noticeable damage is less, while for the localised maximum
higher forces ensue when compared to the simply support configuration.
Figure 23 describes the indentation of the conical and pyramid indentors, in the
simply supported configuration. The pyramid produces higher force–indentation
graphs as obtained in the rigid backed consideration, due to the cutting action of
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Journal of Sandwich Structures and Materials 16(4)
Figure 21. Graphs of force (kN) versus indentor displacement (mm) for: (a) hemispherical;
(b) conical (c) pyramid; and (d) cylindrical indentors in a simply supported configuration,
procedure B, for all panels.
the pyramid edges which require a greater force/energy for this process as opposed
to the opening mechanism of the conical indentor.
Figures 24 and 25 compare the differences between the rigid backed and simply
supported. The rigid back does not allow flexure, therefore as the indentor sharp
tip points are pushed through the skin and core, the material cannot move out of
the way fast enough and offer more resistance, hence higher force values for the
rigid backed tests. Maximum force for this testing has no significance since the
force increases linearly with the increases in indentor cross section and indentor
displacement.
In the simply-supported configuration, the same turn in the initial force–
indentation curve is noted and the experimental force contact plot can be described
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De Marco Muscat-Fenech et al.
367
9
Hemisphere
8
7
Force (kN)
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
A
B
C
D
E
F
First Nocable Damage - RB
Localised Max - RB
First Nocable Damage - SS
Localised Max - SS
G
Figure 22. Force comparison between hemisphere force indentation for the rigid backed
(RB) and simply supported (SS).
Figure 23. Force comparison between conical versus pyramid force indentation for the
simply supported configuration, procedure B – panel F.
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Journal of Sandwich Structures and Materials 16(4)
1000
Force (N)
800
600
400
200
0
A
Conical - RB
B
C
Pyramid - RB
D
E
Conical - SS
F
G
Pyramid - SS
Figure 24. Force comparison between the conical and pyramid indentors for the rigid
backed (RB) and simply supported (SS).
(a) 4.0
(b) 4.0
3.5
3.5
3.0
3.0
Force (kN)
Force (kN)
Conical RB
2.5
2.0
Conical SS
1.5
2.0
Pyramid SS
1.5
1.0
1.0
0.5
0.5
0.0
Pyramid RB
2.5
0.0
0
5
10
15
20
25
Indentor Displacement (mm)
30
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Indentor Displacement (mm)
Figure 25. Comparison between (a) conical, (b) pyramid force-indentation for the rigid
backed (RB) and simply supported (SS) – panel F.
by two trend lines. Similar to the rigid backed, the power law index n ¼ 0.8
describes the initial increase in force; however, there is a similar change in slope
and shape of the force curve, a linear n ¼ 1 describes the process up to the end of
the test. However, the crossover of these two curves differs than in the previous case
and is delayed to 1.1ts and 1.5ts for the conical and pyramid indentors, respectively.
The absorbed energy follows a 1.8 power law for the full test duration.
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De Marco Muscat-Fenech et al.
369
Figure 26. Comparison between indentation for the rigid backed (RB) and simply supported
(SS) – cylindrical, panel F.
9
Cylindrical
8
Force (kN)
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
A
B
1st damage - RB
1st damage - SS
C
D
E
2nd damage - RB
2nd damage - SS
F
G
Localised Max - RB
Localised Max - SS
Figure 27. Comparison of forces between the rigid backed (RB) and simply supported (SS)
procedures – cylindrical, panel F.
Figure 26 and 27 show the comparison of the two methods on the cylindrical
indentor. The flexure in the panel of the simply supported configuration is seen in
the shift of the graphs showing the delay of the same occurance. The simply
supported equally shows that there are two noticeable damage points during the
initial stages. During the end stages of the cylindrical tests, the unsupported bottom
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Journal of Sandwich Structures and Materials 16(4)
Figure 28. Damage sustained on the sandwich panels with a simply supported configuration
– Procedure B: (a) hemisphere – face and through-thickness damage perforations, panel F; (b)
conical – face and through-thickness damage perforations; (c) pyramid – face and throughthickness damage perforations; (d) cylindrical – face and through-thickness damage
perforations.
face flexes and core foam is not as compressed and crushed as with the rigid
support, therefore the forces do not rise to the extent of the rigid backed.
Visual observation of damage. The damage caused by the various indentor geometries
for procedure B is shown in Figure 28. The simply supported loading condition show
very similar findings to the rigidly backed tests. During the tests for both methods,
the indentor was displaced by the same distance into the panels. However, during
these simply supported tests the panel is able to deflect into the circular opening.
The hemispherical indentation damage again shows the annular whitening, but
with the formation of the cap head and the delamination of the fibres into the
indent to a lesser extent. The significant difference is that there is no visible core
compression. Although the indentor displacement is half the panel thickness, it is
readily seen that the hemispherical indentation left behind shows that penetration
did not occur to half the thickness.
The conical indentor damage shows the same fibre pull out and tensile brittle
fracture after the sharp point pierced its way through the skin. The core compression is only highly localised on the resulting increasing cross-sectional edge layer.
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The pyramid point and sharp edges slice through the skin and core. The edges of
the skin are fairly straight and clearly show the cut fibres. Whilst the cut fibres push
into the core as the indentor advances the core is compressed below the fibre turn
down and once again highly localised on the edges which have been cut through.
The flat face and cutting rim of the cylindrical indentor produced the same flat
cap, with a few fibre pull outs in the lower fibre glass layers in the upper skin.
Again, the flat cap pushes the core down and compresses it, however, to a lesser
extent than in the rigid backed configuration. The diverging crack path as described
for procedure A is also visible; coincidentally the indentor was pushed through two
resin-filled grooves which can clearly be seen to add a stiffening effect and remain
reasonably intact even with the unavoidable manufacturing air voids in the resin in
the grooves. Due to the panel deflection, there is no presence of the severe crushing
of the foam core.
Conclusion
Quasi-static impact testing according to ASTM D7766 and procedures A and B
from ASTM D6264 have been completed, whereby different marine sandwich
panels of composite skins and closed-cell PVC foam have been tested.
ASTM D7766 directs researchers to test sandwich panels according to ASTM
D6264. However, ASTM D6264 focuses on FRP laminates and describes the process of testing and interpretation on these laminates. Response of composite sandwich panels is different from the laminates owing to the overall panel rigidity,
constituents and support configurations. ASTM D6264 needs to reflect the differences in these responses as will be highlighted below.
The default and standard indentor is a 12.5 mm diameter hemisphere. Although
providing adequate damage to laminates, falls short to describe marine craft indentation impact occurrences. Further, indentor geometries suitable to describe such
marine vessel scenarios are: sharp but smooth fibre piercing and opening indentors
– conical shaped; sharp pointed and cutting edge pyramids; cylindrical flat faced
with a cutting edge – providing suitable ‘standard rocks’. Each standard rock
produces a characteristic force-indentation and damage response in both support
configurations.
Marine panels only require 50% to 80% panel penetration, since through-thickness penetration may cause foundering of the vessel; subsequent and next stage
testing of such panels is normal, such as adopting procedure C of ASTM D7766,
i.e. LVI instrumented drop weight testing to the same penetration depths and
further compression CAI residual strength testing is required. Continuity of the
standards is necessary.
The support plate for procedure B – simply supported is required to be thicker
and specific to the panels tested, and this has to be stated in the standard.
Each force–indentation response has been analysed and shown to be different in
all cases (however, the conical and pyramid show similar trends, but each provide
essential damage information). Noticeable first (and some instances second)
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Journal of Sandwich Structures and Materials 16(4)
damage points and localised maximum points are seen and have been shown to
occur are repeatable %skin thickness indentations.
The initial contact force plots together with the experimental absorbed energy
are shown to follow power law. The power index for contact of the standard
hemisphere is n ¼ 1.3, whereas the conical and pyramid indentors follow, n ¼ 0.8
until face skin penetration and subsequently follow a linear law. Similarly, the
cylinder power index is n ¼ 0.8 up to the point of the flat disc being cut in the
face sheet.
Forces at important points, such as noticeable damage points and localised
maximum must be reported in the context of the indentor causing the damage
and the position at which it occurs.
Comparison between the two support configurations has been described and the
major differences between the two conditions are described in terms of panel flexure
and delayed damage.
Proper understanding of the internal damage can only be achieved by destructive testing of the panel and describing the process in terms of the damaged sustained by the face and core as the specific indentor penetrates through the thickness
whilst relating this to the force plot.
Measuring the dent diameter is not an efficient means of describing the history
and damage incurred in the panel material, although it has been noted that there is
a whitened annular region in very close proximity to the indentor periphery.
A depth gauge reveals (as suggested by the standard) that the panel face remains
flat even in this minimal region thereby minimising the importance or even the
usefulness of measuring the dent diameter.
Funding
This research project was financed by the Malta Council for Science and Technology
through the National Research & Innovation Programme 2011 [Grant number: R&I2011-002]: Fabrication of Advanced Hybrid Composite Sandwich Panels – Testing and
Simulation (FACTS).
Conflict of interest
None declared.
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