NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF RESIDUAL STRENGTH FOR INSERTS IN SANDWICH STRUCTURES

摘要

In the present paper, numerical simulation is developed in order to predict the structural failure of a damaged potting insert in a sandwich structure. To simulate the different materials, mechanical behaviors in compression and bending of the potting and honeycomb are firstly performed experimentally. A model of the sandwich specimen is divided into three steps: damage creation by indentation, removal of the indentor, and finally pull-through. Three different damage locations are investigated. To reduce the size of the numerical model only 1/4 of the specimen is simulated. The results show that the model is able to predict the structural failure of the sandwich specimen. Delamination in the upper skin is compared with the experiment. Moreover, honeycomb damage is successfully predicted numerically. Finally, matrix cracking of the upper skin is analyzed.