Experimental study of foam-filled lattice composite panels under low-velocity impact

Foam-filled lattice composite panels are made of Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) skins, Polyurethane (PU) foam cores and FRP lattice webs, which are manufactured by the andvanced Vacuum Assisted Resin Infusion Process (VARIP). This novel composite panel offers several advantages, such as high strength, low density, excellent corrosion resistance, excellent energy absorbing ability under impact. This paper presents an experimental study of foam-filled lattice composite panels under low-velocity impact. The influences of the height, the longitudinal spacing and the transverse spacing of FRP web were investigated. The experimental results indicate that, the FRP web reinforced the PU foam core and suppressed the shear crack propagation; the low-velocity impact load increases with the decrease of transverse spacing / longditudinal spacing of FRP web; the peak mid-point displacement of the composite panel decreases with the increase of the height of FRP web or with the decrease of longitudinal spacing of FRP web..