Effect of face sheet material on the indentation response of metallic foams

Sandwich panels comprising metallic foam cores fail by localized indentation when subjected to impact and blast loads. In this paper the indentation response of aluminum foams with face sheets, whose behavior represent elastic, elastic-ideally plastic and elastic-plastic strain hardening, were investigated experimentally under quasi-static loading conditions. The tests were carried out using flat and hemispherical indenters made of stiff tool steel on the blocks of aluminum foam with and without face sheets. Thickness of the face sheets was varied from 0.5 mm to 1.0 mm to evaluate the thickness effect on the indentation behavior. Competing failure modes for the initiation of failure are discussed. Results show that the indentation behavior is strongly dependent on the type and thickness of the face sheets used.