Composites Part B 188 (2020) 107773

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Composites Part B
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compositesb

Bioinspired functionally graded gyroid sandwich panel subjected to

impulsive loadings
Chenxi Peng a, Phuong Tran b, a, *
a
Department of Civil & Infrastructure Engineering, RMIT University, VIC, Australia
b
CIRTECH Institute, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH), Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Gradual and localised changes in mechanical properties can be achieved by functionally graded cellular struc­
Functionally graded structure tures with the aim to improve structural performance. Gyroid belongs to a class of cellular structures that
Gyroid naturally inspired continuous non-self-intersecting surfaces with controllable mechanical properties. In this
Cellular structure
work, dynamic compression on functionally graded gyroid and sandwich composite panels constructed from
Finite element method
Blast resistance
functionally graded gyroid core and metallic facets are numerically investigated and compared to evaluate the
Bioinspired dynamic behaviours when subjected to extreme loadings. The Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is employed to
investigate the deformation behaviours of proposed structures considering the rate-dependent properties, elas­
toplastic response and nonlinear contact. The Johnson-Cook model is utilised to capture the rate-dependent
dynamic responses of the gyroid panels. The numerical model is then validated with experimental results
under quasi-static compression. Due to the symmetry, only a quarter of the gyroid panel is modelled using shell
elements, which offers significantly reduction in computational cost. Parametric studies are conducted to
demonstrate the influences of different functionally graded cores on the blast resistances of gyroid composite
panels. Reaction forces and critical stress extracted from underneath protected structure are assessed. Fuctionally
graded gyroid sandwich structures clearly demonstrate unique dynamic crushing responses, impact energy
mitigation & dissipation mechanisms, which leads to enhancement of the blast resistance.

1. Introduction Researchers have investigated the functionally graded materials for

Cellular materials present interesting properties, such as high spe­
cific strength and large densification strains, so they are regarded as
potential candidates for various engineering applications such as energy
absorption, heat dissipation, structural components and biomedical
implant [1–8]. Moreover, they can be optimised through the choice of
topology (e.g., foam, honeycomb, and lattice), cell size and bulk mate­
rial [9–11]. Functionally graded structures have attracted attention from
researchers recently since it is possible to locally modify the mechanical
properties to improve the structural and mechanical performances
[12–16]. The continuous changes in mechanical properties can also be
found in nature. For instance, the density of bamboo is increasing to­
wards its external surface to bear larger bending loads [17], while a
similar variation inproperties is observed on the cross-section of human
bone [18]. Functionally graded material is also promising as crushable
core materials for sandwich panel subjected to impact loading since the
elastic modulus profile can be tuned [19].
the mechanical properties, and energy absorption, both numerically and
experimentally [20–26]. Different bio-inspired cellular structures have
investigated, such as Voronoi foam [27–29] and
Triply-Periodic-Minimal-Surfaces (TPMS) [30]. TPMS are classified as
surfaces with three-dimensional (3D) periodicity, and zero mean cur­
vature. TPMS based structures have demonstrated advantages in their
structural efficiency over conventional bulk structures, mainly due to
their customizable topology enabled by their function-based geomet­
rical representation [21,31–33]. Recently, the idea of designing a graded
gyroid cellular structure attracted attention from researchers. Jung and
Buehler [34] have published interesting work on mechanical properties
of graphene TPMS unit cell demonstrated excellent and tuneable
load-bearing properties. In other work, Yang, et al. [35] investigated the
behaviours of functionally graded gyroid structures subjected to
quasi-static uniaxial compression. They found that the introduction of
graded density normal to the loading direction is not affecting the
deformation behaviours compared to uniform ones. Meanwhile, a

* Corresponding author. Department of Civil & Infrastructure Engineering, RMIT University, VIC, Australia
E-mail address: jonathan.tran@rmit.edu.au (P. Tran).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2020.107773
Received 26 July 2019; Received in revised form 3 December 2019; Accepted 15 January 2020
Available online 20 January 2020
1359-8368/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
C. Peng and P. Tran Composites Part B 188 (2020) 107773

layer-by-layer collapse behaviour is observed for structure with a den­ ni

sity gradient parallel to the loading direction. The similar effects have wi ¼ 2π for i ¼ x; y; z; (2)
Li
been found for other TPMS cellular structures by Afshar et al. [36].
Research on the dynamic response of functionally graded structures where ni determines the number of unit cells along the directions x, y, z,
were also conducted numerically and analytically [37–41]. However, and Li controls the total sizes of lattice in these directions.
studies on the dynamic response of functionally graded gyroid structure After the gyroid surface is constructed to lattice, 3D structures are
and its blast resistance performance is still limited in literature. generated by thickening the surface. In this work, two different surface
From the manufacturing perspective, the complex geometry of the thickening methods are employed. To generate uniform cellular struc­
TPMS family leads to it is challenging to fabricate TPMS structures. Until tures, a constant thickness is assigned to the gyroid surface lattice. For
recently, the developments of Additive Manufacturing (AM) allow the functionally graded gyroid structure, the thickness has been defined as a
fabrication of complex geometries, with excellent uniformity and function of spatial coordinates, as shown in Fig. 2b.
repeatability for various engineering applications [42–46], when
compared to conventional metal foaming. Several TPMS based struc­
2.2. The numerical model and convergence study
tures, such as gyroid and diamond, have been studied for their print­
ability using a variety of materials, such as polymer, aluminium alloy
In this work, finite element modelling (FEM) approach is considered
and stainless steel [21,47]. Fig. 1a&b present several examples of 3D
and conducted with commercial software package ABAQUS/Explicit
printed functionally graded cellular structures. Moreover, few studies
2018 to investigate the static and dynamic responses of gyroid lattice
have been conducted for graded TPMS cellular structures. Fig. 1c pre­
and cellular composite structures subjected impulsive loadings. While
sents the gyroid cellular structures with different thickness gradients
most of the numerical model work in literature simulating the gyroid
fabricated by AM out of 316L stainless steel. Fig. 1d presents a graded
unit cell by solid, three dimensional elements (tetrahedral or hexahe­
diamond cellular structure made by polymer.
dral), we propose in this work a simplified model to simulate the gyroid
While the development of manufacturing approach progress prom­
cellular structure by the first-order three-node shell elements (S3R). This
isingly, the design, modelling and optimisation of graded gyroid com­
simplification could reduce the computational cost considerably, while
posite structures are equivalently important to provide further insights
enabling large scale simulation of gyroid sandwich panels. In this model,
into the mechanical behaviours of lattice core and sandwich structures,
shell elements are defined to have a normal contact behaviour using
especially when compressive shockwave and localised impacts are
hard contact formulation, while a friction coefficient of 0.3 is utilised to
applied. In this study, we investigate the response of sandwich panel
describe the tangential responses. In convergence study of unit cell
with functionally graded gyroid core under blast loading. This study is
subjected to uniaxial compression, vertical displacement is applied to a
composed of five main sections. After the introduction, the second sec­
rigid plate on the top of the unit cell, while another rigid plate sup­
tion presents the development of three-dimensional gyroid unit cell and
porting the bottom is fixed. The reaction force on the bottom and
associated sandwich composite structure including geometrical design,
displacement of the top plate are extracted for further evaluations.
material selection, finite element model development, convergence
A convergence study is conducted to analyse the effect of mesh
study, validation of numerical model and results of the graded gyroid
densities on the results. The gyroid unit cell with cell size of 50 mm and
structure under dynamic compression. The third section focuses on the
shell thickness of 5 mm is meshed with different element size (from 5
parametric studies on the dynamic behaviours and energy absorption of
mm to 2 mm). The unit cells with these different meshes are loaded by
gyroid sandwich panel with different core thickness distributions, when
dynamic uniaxial compression, with a strain rate of ε_ ¼ 1000 s 1 , while
subjected to blast loadings.
the total compressive engineering strain is set to 0.5. For validation,
similar gyroid unit cell discretised with 3D mesh composed of 60,419
2. Numerical model and validation
tetrahedral modified second-order ten-node solid elements (C3D10 M),
and it is loaded under the same conditions. For simplicity, local imper­
2.1. Description of gyroid unit cell
fections are not taken into consideration by this study.
As shown in Fig. 3a and b, time evolutions of the reaction force and
Previous research presented that TPMS can be created by different
dissipation plastic energy are extracted and presented for different
methods including parametric, implicit and boundary [48]. In this work,
element sizes, respectively. As illustrated, the model with mesh size of 3
gyroid unit cell and lattice, as presented in Fig. 2a, are constructed using
mm S3R elements can produce very similar results, compared to refined
the implicit method, which is based on a three-variable function.
meshes of full three-dimensional C3D10 M elements. Simulation of
Schnering and Nesper [49] showed that the gyroid surface could be
model discretised with 2 mm shell elements takes 20.7 s compared to 70
described by following nodal equation,
min of the corresponding fully 3D one running on ten cores Intel®
� �
cosðwx xÞsin wy y þ cos wy y sinðwz zÞ þ cosðwz zÞsinðwx xÞ ¼ 0; (1) Xeon® W-2155 CPU @3.30 GHz. As demonstrated, the computational
cost reduces substantially by implementing shell elements, while
where x, y and z are spatial coordinates in the three-dimensional Car­ convergent results are obtained effectively. Consequently, the proposed
tesian coordinate system. numerical approach allows investigating the dynamic response of large
wx ; wy and wz are the periodicities of TPMS function, defined by, TPMS lattices. In the rest of this work, 2 mm shell element will be used
for finite element mesh.

Fig. 1. (a) Design with functionally graded cellular structure [15]; (b) Design with functionally graded cellular structure [14]; (c) 3D printed graded gyroid cellular
structures [35]; (d) 3D printed graded diamond cellular structure [36].

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C. Peng and P. Tran Composites Part B 188 (2020) 107773

Fig. 2. (a) The geometry of unit cell and lattice; (b) Example of gyroid cellular structure with graded thickness.

Fig. 3. (a) Reaction forces from different meshes (shell & solid); (b) Associated plastic dissipation energy from different mesh refinements.

2.3. Material consideration The dimensionless parameter T*m is defined as,

In this work, the Johnson-Cook strength model [50] is adopted for
the numerical model. The material constitutive behavior is described by,
h i
σeq ¼ A þ Bεneq ½1 þ C ln_ε� �½1 T �m �; (3)
in which σ eq is equivalent stress; εeq is the equivalent plastic strain; ε_ * is
strain rate. A is the Johnson-Cook yield stress; B and n describe the strain
hardening behaviour.
T Tr
T *m ¼ ; (4)
Tm Tr
For testing temperature T between room temperature Tr and melting
temperature Tm of the material, T *m is calculated as equation (4). For T
smaller than Tr , T*m will be 0, while for T larger than Tm T *m will be 1.
The damage of metallic material is described by the Johnson-Cook
damage model [50]. It is given by,

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C. Peng and P. Tran Composites Part B 188 (2020) 107773

� � pl ��
� � ε_ Table 2
ε plD ¼ d1 þ d2 e d3 η
1 þ d4 ln ½1 þ d5 T * �; (5) Material property of AlSi10Mg.
ε_ 0
AlSi10Mg
where εplD is the damage equivalent plastic strain; ε _ pl is the equivalent ρ ðkg =m Þ3 2680
strain rate; ε_ 0 is the reference strain rate. Stress triaxiality is defined by E ðGPaÞ 40
η ¼ p=q; which is the ratio between pressure stress p and the von Mises ν 0.3
equivalent stress q. Material constitutive model of AA5083-H116 A ðMPaÞ 231
aluminium alloy and AISI 4340 steel used in this work are adopted B ðMPaÞ 510
from literature as summarised in Table 1. n 0.4711
C 0.0375

2.4. Experimental validation

that from experiment. Good agreement is observed between numerical
In order to validate the accuracy of numerical model, uniaxial and experimental results at the layer by layer crushing stage. A signifi­
compression is conducted on graded gyroid fabricated by selective laser cant densification of materials occurs in experiment when the engi­
melting. The specimen is designed according to ISO 13314:2011(E) neering strain reaches 0.75. By comparison, the numerical results are
[54], which has a unit cell size of 5 mm, width and length of 30 mm and still increasing gradually without significant densification happened. As
height of 60 mm. The wall thickness varies from 0.8 mm at the bottom to shown by Fig. 4b, at ε ¼ 0:1 and ε ¼ 0:4 the deformation behaviour of
0.2 at the top. The graded gyroid specimen is manufactured by selective graded gyroid structure under compression is well captured by numer­
laser melting with AlSi10Mg powders. Heat treatment is performed on ical simulation. Layer by layer crushing and local densification at the
the printed sample to improve the ductility. Then, MTS universal testing upper portion of the specimen is observed similar to experiments. When
machine with a 250 kN load cell is employed to conduct uniaxial it comes to high strain region, for example ε ¼ 0:7, local buckling be­
compression test. The sample is compressed at a loading rate of 2 haviours are different for simulation and simulation, as there is no
mm/min up to 45 mm. The force and displacement data are recorded. damage evaluation in numerical model and fracture already happens in
Then, the effective lattice stress and strain are obtained by, experiment. This could also contribute to the mismatch in stress-strain
curve.
F
σ¼ ; (6)
A0
2.5. Dynamic response of gyroid cellular structures
△L
ε¼ ; (7) The dynamic behaviours of graded gyroid structure is simulated and
L0
evaluated. The same design of graded gyroid structure and numerical
where F is the reaction force on the bottom surface; △L is the model as previous section is adopted to simulate dynamic compression.
displacement; L0 is the height of the gyroid sheet which is 60 mm and A0 A rigid base is fixed to the bottom of the gyroid panel, while a rigid plate
is the cross-sectional area, which is 900 mm2. is compressing the structure from the top at different velocities to
The numerical model as presented in previous section is employed to represent impulsive loadings. Four different compression speeds (50,
simulate the behaviour of graded gyroid under compression. The ma­ 100, 150 and 200 m/s) are applied on the rigid top plate to evaluate the
terial property of printed AlSi10Mg is obtained from tensile test ac­ crushing response of graded gyroid. The results are processed to
cording to ASTM B557M [55] with modified specimen and test data crushing stress-strain curves and plotted with result of quasi-static
from literature [56] as summarised in Table 2. The numerical results are compression for comparison as shown in Fig. 5a. Evidently, the crush­
processed and plotted along with experimental one in Fig. 4a. It could be ing stress increases noticeably with the increase of impact velocity. A
seen that the elastic region is well captured by numerical model, while a gradual increase of stress level is also observed during dynamic
higher yield stress is observed during experiment. It could be attributed compression. Evidently, under compression, the lattice structure is
to that there is no fracture damage evaluation involved in the numerical deformed into two distinct regions. Single shock mode reported by Shen
model. Initial damage of the materials occurred in the experiment. After et al. [39] is observed as the density gradient in this case is positive. The
elastic region, results obtained from simulation follows a similar trend as upper part is crushed, where the material densification can be observed
(Fig. 5a–1), while the lower portion of the lattice experience relatively
Table 1 uniform stress and deformation. Fig. 5a–3 presents the fully crushed
Johnson-Cook parameters of materials in this study [51–53]. status of the model. Further experiments could be conducted to reveal
the relationship between density gradient and dynamic response of
AISI 4340 steel AA5083-H116
gyroid.
ρ ðkg =m3 Þ 7850 2750
E ðGPaÞ 210 70 3. Blast resistance of gyroid sandwich panel
ν 0.3 0.3
TM ðKÞ 1800 893 3.1. Symmetrical model for gyroid sandwich panel
Tg ðKÞ 293 293
A ðMPaÞ 792 215 The gyroid sandwich panel is modelled to simulate its response
B ðMPaÞ 510 280 under the blast loadings as shown in Fig. 6a. The design of composite
n 0.260 0.404 sandwich panel follows published research [57] on blast resistance of
C 0.014 0.0085
1 4 3
sandwich panel, which includes a cellular core made of AA5083-H116
ε0_ ðs Þ 5 � 10 1 � 10
aluminium alloy and two AISI 4340 steel panels. A concrete base is
m 1.03 0.859
d1 0.05 0.0261
place under the sandwich panel for supporting purpose.
d2 3.44 0.263
The frontal panel has a thickness of 8.75 mm, while the back panel
d3 2.12 0.349
has a thickness of 2 mm. The size of both panels is 300 ​ mm ​ �
d4 0.002 0.147
300 ​ mm. The frontal panel is designed to absorb the impulsive energy
d5 0.61 16.8
of the shock wave and redistribute the loading on the gyroid core. The
back panel is used to avoid the direct contact between gyroid core and

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C. Peng and P. Tran Composites Part B 188 (2020) 107773

Fig. 4. Comparison between experiment and simulation (a)Stress-strain curves; (b) Deformation behaviour.

Fig. 5. (a) Snapshots of displacements of lattice structure at different times during the dynamic compression (200 m/s) event are presented; (b)Stress-strain curves of
gyroid structure subjected to dynamic and quasi-static compression.

Fig. 6. (a) Symmetric model of blast on gyroid sandwich panel; (b) Reflected pressure and impulse applied on TPMS sandwich panel.

concrete foundation. The gyroid core has a height of 100 mm and size of
250 ​ mm ​ � 250 ​ mm. 2 mm S3R shell element is used to model both
panels and gyroid core, while the concrete base is discretised with 2 mm
C3D8R solid element. A quarter of the sandwich panel is modelled and
simulated to minimise the computational cost. Symmetric boundary
conditions are imposed on the internal faces of the panel, while external
edges are relaxed. Steel panels and gyroid core are not bonded together,
and the concrete foundation is fixed at the bottom.
Eurocode 2 [58] and results from previous research [59] are adopted
to describe the constitutive model of the concrete base. The selected
concrete has an average compressive strength fcm of 32 MPa; an elastic
modulus Ecm of 31.19 GPa; a density of 2400 kg=m3 and a υ is 0.3. Its
no-linear behaviour is described by the concrete damage plasticity with
dilation angle of 36� , the K of 0.6667, the ratio between the strength in
the biaxial state to the strength in unaxial state of 1.16 and the viscosity
parameter of 0. Detailed model of conrete is shown in appendix.
The blast loading on the frontal panel is defined by the CONWEP
module. The pressure changes respect to time are given by,
� � � �
t Ta ðt Ta Þ
PðtÞ ¼ Pso 1 exp β ; (8)
T0 T0
where PðtÞ is pressure posed by shock wave at t; Pso is maximum incident
pressure; Ta is the time when the shock arrives; T0 is the duration of the
positive phase; β is the delay coefficient.
The parameters of airblast generated by 300 g TNT with an offset of
100 mm from the TPMS sandwich panel are determined by CONWEP
method. Fig. 6b presents the time evaluation of incident and reflected
pressure. According to the CONWEP model, the peak pressure is 233.4
MPa, while the applied impulse is 6.9 MPa⋅ms. The shock wave arrives at
0.017 ms with a positive phase of 0.14 ms. The delay coefficient β is

5
C. Peng and P. Tran
0.0124.
A blast loading equivalent to 300 g TNT at 100 mm from the frontal
centre of the sandwich panel is applied and modelled with COMWEP
airblast model. The reaction forces, stress transmitted to the protected
concrete foundation, and energy absorption of the gyroid sandwich
panel are extracted to evaluate the performance.
3.2. Blast resistance of the baseline structure
A baseline structure with uniform core is analysed based on the FE
model introduced in previous sections. There are three layers in gyroid
core, and the dimension of each unit cell is 33 mm correspondingly. The
gyroid core has a uniform thickness of 0.4 mm. The responses of the
structure under blast loading are evaluated from t ¼ 0 to t ¼ 6 ms.
Fig. 7 presents the deformations of the sandwich panel at different time
instances. The explosion of TNT generates a spherical blast wave and
poses a concentrated load on the frontal panel. The impulsive loading is
then redistributed on the TPMS core by the frontal panel, and panel
deformed plastically. The underlying TPMS core is dragged to the
middle part of the sandwich panel, where densification of the core is
observed. Then, the damage is distributed evenly through the upper
layers of the core. After the blast event, part of the frontal panel is
bounced back from the TPMS core indicates that this frontal facet and
the core are not fully deformed plastically. The frontal panel certainly
provides a better distribution of blast loading and prevents localised
damage on the core.
To quantify the energy absorption performance of the baseline TPMS
sandwich structure, the reaction force transmitted to the protected
concrete foundation and dissipated plastic energy on the sandwich panel
is extracted. Fig. 8a presents the reaction force measured on the bottom
of the concrete base. The blast loading transmits to and reaches the
concrete base after propagation to the core, following by transient
response of reaction force measured on the bottom of the concrete base.
The initial peak reaction force of 240 kN is observed at 0.12 ms. The
reaction force starts to drop after 0.8 ms. Fig. 8b presents the plastic
dissipation energy during the impact for gyroid sandwich panel. The
frontal panel and gyroid core absorb all the energy, where the frontal
panel seems to play a more important role, while the bottom panel is
deformed elastically.
The stress transmitted to the concrete base are captured. Fig. 9 pre­
sents the development of stress on the concrete foundation. As visually
observed, a high-stress ring starts to form on the concrete base at 0.12
ms, and the size of the ring gradually increases, until it disappears at
around 0.3 ms. Peak stress of 31 MPa is recorded at 0.12 ms immediately
after the shock wave reached the concrete base. Then, the stress on the
concrete base is decreasing with the time, and after 0.3 ms, there is no
remarkable high-stress region observed on the concrete base. It may
attribute to that the gyroid core has a rigid initial response at the
beginning of the blast event, following by the sandwich panel deforming
plastically and absorbing blast energy.
Fig. 7. Stress distributions on gyroid sandwich panel at 0 ms, 0.5 ms, 1 ms and 2 ms.
6
Composites Part B 188 (2020) 107773
3.3. One dimensional functionally graded gyroid sandwich panel
Functionally graded thickness is then introduced to the gyroid core
to improve the performance of sandwich panel against blast loading.
Four different thickness gradients are created as, Linear Functionally
Graded-1 (LFG-1):
t ¼ 0:004z þ 0:2; (9)
Linear Functionally Graded-2 (LFG-2):
t¼ 0:004z þ 0:6; (10)
Linear Functionally Graded-3 (LFG-3):
t ¼ 0:006z þ 0:1; (11)
Quadratic Functionally Graded (QFG):
t¼ 0:00016ðz 50Þ2 þ 0:6; (12)
where t is the local thickness of gyroid shell; z is the vertical position; the
origin of the coordinate system is defined at the bottom centre of gyroid
core and all units are in millimetre.
Fig. 10a and Fig. 10b presents the thickness distribution for four
different cases. For LFG-1, the thickness increases linearly from 0.2 to
0.6 mm with the increase of z coordinate, so the top part (close side to
the blast loading) has a higher relative density than that of the bottom.
Oppositely, for LFG-2, the local shell thickness decreases from 0.6 to 0.2
mm when z coordinate increases. For LFG-3, the thickness increases
from 0.1 to 0.7 mm linearly, while the local thickness follows a
quadratic function of z coordinates (0.2–0.6 to 0.2 mm) for QFG. As a
result, LFG-1, LFG-2 and LFG-3 have the same average relative density as
the baseline design. The average relative density of QFG is higher than
other arrangements investigated by this study.
The same impulsive loading generated by 300 g TNT is applied on
the frontal panel of different FG gyroid sandwich panels. The dynamic
responses are simulated up to 6 ms. Fig. 11 presents the deformation and
stress distribution of the sandwich panel for different designs at 3 ms
after the blast. The gyroid core of LFG-1 and LFG-3 is crushing from the
top surface. It could be attributed to the upper part of the core is softer
than the lower part, as the local relative density is higher when it is
closer to the bottom surface. By comparison, LFG-2 is crushing from the
bottom part of the core, and more uniform stress distribution is ach­
ieved. The behaviour of QFG is more complicated compared to the other
three cases. It is crushing from both top and bottom sides, while larger
deformation is observed on the top part.
The energy absorbed by different FG gyroid cores is extracted and
plotted together with results of baseline design in Fig. 12a. Evidently,
more energy is absorbed by LFG-1 and LFG-3 cores compared to LFG-2
core, while QFG core has a similar performance as baseline design.
The best performance is observed for LFG-1, which has a total energy
absorption of 2.23 kJ. By comparison, the total energy absorption for
C. Peng and P. Tran Composites Part B 188 (2020) 107773

Fig. 8. (a) Reaction force observed at the concrete base; (b) The energy absorbed by different parts of TPMS sandwich panel.

Fig. 9. Transmitted stress on the concrete base.

Fig. 10. Thickness distribution on the gyroid core.

Fig. 11. Deformation of gyroid sandwich panel with different thickness distribution at 3 ms.

QFG core is 1.99 kJ, which is less than blast energy absorbed by the core
with uniform thickness. Generally, the gyroid core with larger thickness
at the part close to the blast source has a better performance in terms of
energy absorption. Fig. 12b presents the displacements of the top centre
of the gyroid core for different cases. All the gyroid cores with func­
tionally graded thickness have a larger deformation than gyroid core
with baseline design, eventually. However, at the beginning of the blast
event, all the cores have identical responses, after which the displace­
ment curves for different gyroid cores diverges. It could be attributed to
that the behaviour of the sandwich panel is dominated by the frontal
panel at the beginning of the blast event, while the differences in the
gyroid core have less effect on the overall response.
The maximum stress experienced by the concrete base are also
investigated. A Python script is developed to search through the output
database and automatically extract the maximum stress frame. As shown
in Fig. 13, all the designs can prevent the concrete base from being
damaged, since the maximum stress generated is always lower than
average compressive strength (32 MPa) of the concrete. Gyroid sand­
wich panel with functionally graded thickness can reduce the maximum
stress transmitted to the concrete base significantly. The maximum
stress on the concrete base for LFG-1, 2, and 3 is 18 MPa, while that for
QFG core is 20 MPa. By comparison, the result for baseline design is 31

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C. Peng and P. Tran Composites Part B 188 (2020) 107773

Fig. 12. (a) The energy absorbed by gyroid core for different cases; (b) Displacements of the top centre of gyroid core.

Fig. 13. Comparison of maximum stress on the protected concrete foundation for four different cases and the baseline design.

MPa. It is also noticeable that the sandwich composite panel with
functionally graded core can delay the shock wave generated by blast
source. The maximum stress on the concrete base occurs at 0.12 ms after
blast happened for baseline design, while it is observed a bit later for
sandwich panel with functionally graded cores.
3.4. Three dimensional functionally graded gyroid sandwich panel
Gyroid sandwich panel with functionally graded thickness along
multiple directions (TFG) is investigated in this section. The core
thickness is increasing linearly along the positive z-direction while
decreasing linearly along positive x and y-direction. The local core
thickness is given by,

Fig. 14. Thickness distribution of triple functionally graded (TFG) core and linearly functionally graded 3 (LFG-3) core.

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C. Peng and P. Tran Composites Part B 188 (2020) 107773

t¼ 0:0002x 0:0002y þ 0:006z þ 0:2: (13) 4. Conclusions

The resulting thickness distribution in the core is presented in

This work studied functionally graded gyroid cellular structure
Fig. 14, and LFG-3 core is demonstrated as well for comparison.
under dynamic compression and sandwich panels with functionally
Generally, the part close to the blast source has a larger shell thickness.
graded gyroid core under impulsive loading. Implicit method was
Consequently, that part has a higher relative density and becomes
employed to generate gyroid unit cell and lattice structures. A finite
stronger.
element model was developed to investigate graded gyroid structure
The dynamic responses of the sandwich composite panel with TPG
under uniaxial compression. Convergence studies were conducted to
core are simulated based on the numerical model introduced in the
demonstrate the efficiency of using shell versus solid models in terms of
previous section. Fig. 15a presents the stress distribution of sandwich
computational time. Graded gyroid lattice was manufactured by selec­
panel with TPG core and baseline design. For sandwich panel with TPG
tive laser melting with AlSi10Mg powders and heat treated to improve
core, the frontal panel redistributes the blast loading posed on the core.
the ductility. Uniaxial compression test was conducted on the printed
The core is drawn to the centre of the panel, and the top layer and
samples to validate the numerical approach. Good agreement between
bottom layer of the core is crushing simultaneously. Thus, nearly uni­
experimental and numerical results was observed before final densifi­
form stress distribution is achieved within the TPG core. By comparison,
cation stage. The responses of graded gyroid structure under various
large deformation is observed at the top centre for baseline design, while
loading rates are studied. Then, the performances of the composite
the bottom part of the core is nearly not deforming. Thus, stress con­
sandwich panel made of functionally graded aluminium gyroid core and
centrates on the top centre of the gyroid core, leaving the bottom part of
steel facets under blast were evaluated. The performance of sandwich
the core subjected to much less loading. As the sandwich panel with TPG
panel with five different functionally graded cores was compared for the
core absorbs the load more uniformly, it is expected that the more blast
specific energy absorption and force transmitted to the concrete
loading is absorbed by the structure with TPG core and the stress
foundation.
transmitted to the concrete foundation will have a better distribution.
For the baseline design of sandwich panel with uniform gyroid core,
Additionally, auxetic effect is observed for TPG core under localised
most impulsive energy was absorbed by portion of the core that is closed
blast loading. Fig. 15b presents the displacement of the gyroid core
to the blast source, while there was insignificant plastic deformation
along the x-direction. For baseline design, there is no remarkable
observed at the bottom layers. Meanwhile, a clear material densification
displacement along the x-direction. By comparison, it is evident that the
was observed at the core section that is closed to the blast centre. The
outer region of the core is drawn to the blast centre.
introduction of the functionally graded gyroid core noticeably improved
The energy absorbed by the TFG core is extracted and plotted
the performance of sandwich panel when subjected to shock impact. All
together with that baseline design in Fig. 16a. The total energy ab­
the structures with FG gyroid core demonstrated effectiveness in
sorption for TFG core is slightly higher than that for baseline design, as
reducing the stress transmitted to the concrete base compared to the
the frontal panel plays a more dominant role, and both sandwich panels
baseline design. Furthermore, uniform distribution of the stress field is
are subjected to the identical impulsive loads. Fig. 16b presents the
observed within the FG core. However, no remarkable differences in
displacements of the top centre of the gyroid core. Evidently, TFG core is
total energy absorbed by the core are observed. FG core would help to
softer than baseline design, as much larger total displacement is
reduced localised stress and fracture in the sandwich core, compro­
observed. The responses of both designs are identical before 0.4 ms.
mising the performance of the whole panel. Overall, sandwich com­
Then, TFG core has larger deformation compared to the baseline design.
posite panels with functionally graded gyroid core were promising for
It could be attributed to that at the beginning of the blast event defor­
protective applications against the blast loading, while sandwich panel
mation is dominated by the frontal panel, after the frontal panel has
with functionally graded core demonstrated better performance
deformed plastically the effect of the differences in the gyroid becomes
compared to the core with uniform thickness.
more significant.
Fig. 17 presents the maximum stress captured on the back surface
CRediT authorship contribution statement
during the blast event. Evidently, the stress transmitted to the concrete
base reduces significantly for TPG core when compared to the baseline
Chenxi Peng: Data curation, Formal analysis, Software, Visualiza­
design. The distribution of stress on the concrete base is more uniform
tion,Writing - original draft. Phuong Tran: Conceptualization, Meth­
for TPG core, while stress concentration can be observed for baseline
odology, Validation, Supervision, Writing - review & editing.
design. Meanwhile, TPG core can delay the arrival of the shock wave
slightly. The maximum stress for TPG core is captured at 0.15 ms during
the blast event, while that for the baseline design is 0.12 ms.

Fig. 15. Comparison of deformation and stress distribution at 2 ms for baseline design and TFG.

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C. Peng and P. Tran Composites Part B 188 (2020) 107773

Fig. 16. (a) Energy absorption of the sandwich panel; (b) Displacement of the top centre of gyroid core.

Fig. 17. Comparison of maximum stress on the concrete base for baseline design and TPG core.

Acknowledgement supported by the Australian Government. Authors also acknowledge the

facilities, and the scientific and technical assistance, of the Advanced
This research was undertaken with the assistance of resources and Manufacturing Precinct at RMIT University.
services from the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI), which is

Appendix

The stiffness of the conrete is given by,

Ecm ¼ 22ð0:1fcm Þ0:3 ; (14)

The compressive stress σ c and inelastic strain εin are employed to describe the compressive behaviours of the concrete as the following equations:
k η η2
σc ¼ fcm ; (15)
1 þ ðk 2Þη

where k and η are given by,

εc1
k ¼ 1:05Ecm ; (16)
fcm
εc
η¼ ; (17)
εc1

where εc is the compressive strain. εc1 is given by,

εc1 ¼ 0:7ðfcm Þ0:31 ; (18)

Inelastic strain εin is given by,

εc
εin ¼ εc ; (19)
Ecm
Moreover, the tensile behaviour of the concrete is described by tensile stress σt and cracking strain εt in :

10
C. Peng and P. Tran Composites Part B 188 (2020) 107773

8 Ecm εt ; εt � εcr
>
<
σt ¼ � �0:4 ; (20)
: fcm εcr
>
; εt > εcr
εt
2
where εcr ¼ fEctm
cm
and fctm ¼ 0:3f 3cm .

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