Numerical and experimental design of graded cellular sandwich cores for multi-functional aerospace applications

The present contribution is concerned with a combined experimental and numerical design of graded cellular materials for multifunctional aerospace application performed in the context of an integrated research project funded by the European Commission. The primary objective is an exploration of the potential of functionally graded materials as sandwich cores for multifunctional application. With particulate advanced pore morphology (APM) foams and hollow spheres assemblies, two different types of particle-based cellular base materials are considered. Based on these constituent materials, functionally graded sandwich cores are designed in a combined numerical and experimental approach. Their properties and their performance in the desired application are investigated and optimized. The performance of the optimized material is compared to the performance of a non-graded sandwich core in the numerical simulation of a bird strike experiment.