This paper reports the results of a research activity concerning the mechan
ical behavior of a syntactic foam employed as core material for sandwich co
mposite panels. Following a purely phenomenological approach, experimental
and numerical results are presented and compared at the macroscopic scale.
The main features observed in the uniaxial, biaxial and Three Point Bending
(TPB) tests are highlighted. A bimodulus constitutive model of the Drucker
-Prager type is chosen for modeling biaxial stress states with diffused dam
age. An alternative discrete crack approach is devised for the computer sim
ulation of the (TPB) three point bending tests: the best matching is achiev
ed for a rectangular Dugdale-type cohesive law. Though not proposing novel
experimental or numerical methodologies, the present engineering approach s
hould interest readers generally involved in computational composite mechan
ics and, specifically, in modeling particulate composites of the type consi
dered here. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.