Numerical and experimental analysis of the behavior of Nomex honeycomb sandwich structures under low-velocity impacts: Influence of impactor geometry and wall thickness

This study analyzes the behavior of Nomex honeycomb sandwich structures under low-speed impacts, combining experiments and numerical modeling to evaluate the effect of impactor geometry, kinetic energy and honeycomb core wall thickness on the mechanical properties of the structure. A three-dimensional model, developed with Abaqus/Explicit, simulates the progressive crushing and evaluates the efficiency of the honeycomb core in dissipating impact energy, showing good agreement between simulations and experiments, with a difference of 22–25% for the maximum force and 10% for the absorbed energy), confirming the reliability of the developed numerical model. The structure absorbs 75 to 85% of the kinetic energy, with the Nomex honeycomb core playing a key role in energy dissipation and improved impact resistance. The conical impactor generates rapid and localized deformation, while the flat impactor induces more uniform deformation, highlighting the influence of the impactor geometry. Increasing wall thickness improves the strength of structures, with gains of 20–25% in maximum load and 15–20% in energy absorption, offering important implications for applications in impact-sensitive sectors, such as aerospace and automotive.