Numerical simulation on the impact resistance of functionally graded materials

The stress wave propagation and damage evolution within the sandwich structure of ceramic faceplate/Functionally Graded Materials (FGMs) interlayer/metal backplate are numerically studied in this paper. The microstructure models of FGM interlayer are constructed by introducing a new algorithm based on Voronoi discretisation. Four typical microstructure models of FGM interlayer with different composition gradient are constructed to analyse the effect of composition gradient of FGM interlayer on the stress wave propagation and damage evolution in the sandwich structures under impulse loading. The results demonstrate that the composition gradients of FGM interlayer significantly affect the stress propagation and damage evolution in the sandwich structures. The unidirectivity of stress wave in these models varies with the variation of composition gradient, and a slow variation of composition gradient is helpful for reducing the stress on the surface of backplate.