Resin uptake plays a critical role in the stiffness-to-weight ratio of wind turbine blades in which sandwich composites are used extensively. This work examines the flexural properties of nominally half-inch thick sandwich composites made with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) foam cores (H60 and H80; PSC and GPC) at several resin uptakes. We found that the specific flexural strength and modulus for the H80 GPC sandwich composites increase from 82.04 to 90.70 kN Á m/kg and 6.03 to 7.13 MN Á m/kg, respectively, with 11.0% resin uptake reduction, which stands out among the four core sandwich composites. Considering reaching a high stiffness-to-weight ratio while preventing resin starvation, 32% to 38% and 40% to 45% resin uptakes are adequate ranges for the H80 PSC and GPC sandwich composites, respectively. The H60 GPC sandwich composites have lower debonding toughness than H60 PSC due to stress concentration in the smooth side skin-core interphase region. The ailure mode of the sandwich composites depends on the core stiffness and surface texture. The H60 GPC sandwich composites exhibit core shearing and bottom skincore debonding failure, while the H80 GPC and PSC sandwich composites show top skin cracking and core crushing failure. The findings indicate that an appropriate range of resin uptake exists for each type of core sandwich composite, and that within the range, a low-resin uptake leads to lighter blades and thus lower cyclic gravitational loads, beneficial for long blades.

Shape-memory poly(isocyanurate−urethane) (PIR−PUR) aerogels are low-density monolithic nanoporous solids that remember and return to their permanent shape through a heating actuation step. Herein, through structural design at the macro scale, the shape-memory response is augmented with an auxetic effect manifested by a negative Poisson's ratio of approximately −0.8 at 15% compressive strain. Thus, auxetic shape-memory PIR−PUR monoliths experience volume contraction upon compression at a temperature above the glass transition temperature of the base polymer (T g ≈ 30 °C), and they can be stowed indefinitely in that temporary shape by cooling below T g . By heating back above T g , the compressed/shrunk form expands back to their original shape/ size. This technology is relevant to a broad range of industries spanning the commercial, aeronautical, and aerospace sectors. The materials are referred to as meta-aerogels, and their potential applications include minimally invasive medical devices, soft robotics, and situations where volume is at a premium, as for example for storage of deployable space structures and planetary habitats during transport to the point of service.

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