Measurement and Simulation of the Performance of a Lightweight Metallic Sandwich Structure With a Tetrahedral Truss Core

Metallic sandwich panels with tetrahedral truss cores have been fabricated and their structural performance evaluated. A fabrication technique involving deformation-shaping and brazing has been used. The responses of the structure in core shear and panel bending have been measured. The results demonstrate robust behavior beyond the limit load. A finite element simulation of the core shear response duplicates the features found experimentally. When combined with the constitutive properties of the face sheet material, these shear characteristics have been shown to predict, with good fidelity, the limit load for panels in bending.