Engineering failure analyses of aluminum truss-core sandwich panels of portable deployable roadway under tracked loads

Abstract Pultruded aluminum truss-core sandwich panels are stiff and strong enough to construct lightweight deployable roadway. Under the action of tracked loads, local contact and indentation behaviors between the track grouser and the truss-core sandwich panel were investigated by compression experiments. Elastoplastic deformation and local indentation failure pattern of the truss-core sandwich panel were revealed. Bending behavior and failure pattern of these truss-core sandwich panels made of two aluminum materials were investigated and compared by three-point bending experiments. Material ductility effects to the failure of the truss-core sandwich panel were revealed. Combining the elastoplastic deformation under the tracked load and the low cycle fatigue life (LCFL) of the aluminum, a feasible method to predict the fatigue life of the truss-core sandwich panel under tracked loads was proposed.