Multi-scale analysis of nonlinear fatigue damage behaviour of a quad-core sandwich panel with heterogeneous aluminium sheets.

Highlights • A multi-scale model of heterogeneous aluminium sheets was developed using the DIGIMAT software. • Nonlinear 3D FE-analyses of quad core aluminium sandwich panels with a crack was reviewed. • The damage process was implemented in ABAQUS software. • The theoretical approach was performed using energy methods. • The fatigue damage mechanical model was developed. Abstract This paper develops a multi-scale analysis of fatigue damage behaviour of a quad-core sandwich panel with a heterogeneous aluminium alloy containing silicon in a ductile aluminium matrix. The analysis is based on the Representative Volume Element (RVE)-concept. Because of their capacity and high strength-to-weight ratio, these materials can be increasingly used in industry. Here, an elastic-plastic fracture analysis has been clearly considered on the heterogeneous aluminium undergoing tensile deformation. A nonlinear fatigue damage analysis of quad-core (WF51 PMI foam, H100 PVC foam, aluminium foam, and WF110 PMI foam) sandwich panel has been mainly investigated. The model proposed in the commercial software of ABAQUS with the robust nonlinear functions has been also implemented. The theoretical and analytical results are in good agreement with damage evolution and its variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]