Foams are a new class of ultra-light materials that can absorb a large amount of kinetic energy due to their ability to undergo large deformations at a nearly constant plateau stress. Foam-cored sandwich structures have gained significant attention for their excellent resistance to blast loading and are widely used in marine and military applications. The outstanding performance of these sandwich structures depends largely on the innovative geometric design of the foam core.
Traditional blast-resistant devices are often heavy and inefficient. To address this, lightweight and improved blast-resistant containment vessels have become increasingly popular, especially in response to growing security concerns. The sandwich tube is a novel structural design that enhances the performance of blast-resistant vessels. It helps contain explosive materials and protects personnel and equipment from internal explosions.
Compared to conventional solid (monolithic) tubes, foam-cored sandwich tubes offer superior energy absorption (EA) because they can undergo significant plastic deformation at an almost constant plateau stress. The dynamic response of sandwich tubes has been widely studied over the past decade.
In this simulation, the Johnson–Cook plasticity model is applied to the steel tubes, and the crushable foam model with hardening is used for the foam core to evaluate compaction and deformation behavior. A Dynamic Explicit step is chosen, as it is suitable for high-rate deformation problems such as blast loading. The contact between the steel tube and the foam core is defined as perfect contact. The CONWEP air blast procedure is applied to simulate the blast load on the internal surfaces.
During the analysis, the internal blast causes large deformations in the inner steel tube, leading to significant compaction of the foam core. The results clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of the foam-cored sandwich tube in absorbing energy and mitigating blast effects.
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