Dynamic effects on the lightweight design of metallic core sandwich columns

This study investigated the dynamic effects of metallic sandwich columns, specifically corrugated core sandwich columns composed of Al6061T6, on the quasi-static optimal solution. A quasi-static lightweight design and the corresponding failure map were given by means of naïve optimization and analytical equations, respectively. Subsequently, dynamic FE simulations were performed for the 16 design points on the failure map to examine the failure modes under dynamic compressive loading, V = 1 m/s. The simulations demonstrated that several specimens with global buckling as quasi-static failure mode failed due to face wrinkling under the dynamic condition. A failure mode transformed into another failure mode, causing the failure boundary in the map to move because of dynamic effects. Simple analysis verified that inertial stabilization against global buckling was greater than that against face wrinkling, which resulted in such resistance. The lightweight design of the metallic core sandwich column for dynamic applications should be different from the one obtained from quasi-static analysis.