The quasi-static flexural and impact performance, up to projectile impact velocities of about 270 m s⁻¹, of fibre metal laminates (FMLs), which consist of relatively thin, alternately stacked, layers of an aluminium alloy and a thermoset glass fibre epoxy composite, have been investigated. The effects of varying (a) the yield strength, tensile strength and ductility of the aluminium alloy layer, (b) the surface treatment used for the aluminium alloy layers and (c) the number of layers present in the FML have been studied. It was found that increasing the strength of the aluminium alloy increases the quasi-static flexural strength of the FML, providing that good adhesion is achieved between the metal and the composite layers. Further, increasing the number of alternating layers of the aluminium alloy and fibre composite also somewhat increases the quasi-static flexural properties of the FML. In contrast, increasing the strength of the aluminium alloy had relatively little effect on the impact perforation resistance of the FML, but increasing the number of alternating layers of aluminium alloy and fibre composite did significantly increase the impact perforation resistance of the FML. The degree of adhesion achieved between the layers had only a negligible influence on the impact perforation resistance.

Polymeric foams are used extensively as the core of sandwich structures in automotive and aerospace industries. Normally, several experiments are necessary to obtain the required properties to model the response of crushable foams using finite element analysis (FEA). Hence, this research aims to develop a simple and reliable calibration process for extracting the physical parameters which are required by the material model available in the commercial FE package Abaqus. To do this, a set of experimental tests, including uniaxial compression, uniaxial tension and shear punch tests, is proposed. All the experimental tests were also simulated, and generally, good correlations between experiments and numerical models were obtained. The validity of the overall approach was finally demonstrated using an indentation test in which the foam was subjected to a more complex mixed mode loading. During these indentation tests, digital image correlation was used to observe full-field strain distribution in the foam under the indenter. Good agreement between the experimental results and the numerical predictions was found for load–displacement response, failure mode and strain distribution.