Experimental studies on thin sandwich panels under impact and static loading

Abstract

Several thin sandwich panels (thickness close to 3 mm) of different configurations were studied to explore an alternative material for the outer body of various machines and appliances such as automobile, refrigerator, washing machine, lathe machine, drill press, cupboards, light furniture, etc. Three types of sandwich panels with the outer face sheets made of glass fabric/epoxy were fabricated for the present study: (1) XM-Core panel was made of polyester foam Coremat XM/epoxy as core material, (2) Xi-Core panel was made of polyester foam Coremat Xi/epoxy as core material, and (3) J-Core Panel was made of layers of Jute fabric/epoxy as core material. A very thin transition layer of glass chopped strand mat/epoxy was provided between the face sheets and the core to improve their bonding strength. The sandwich panels were analyzed for low velocity normal impact loading under a drop weight impact test set up and transverse static loading under universal testing machine. Damage area, indentation depth and permanent depression over damage area, and failure modes were observed under incident impact loading. The transverse static test was performed to observe load versus deflection relation and to characterize the flexural strength and stiffness.

Indentation of composite sandwich panels with aluminum foam core: An experimental parametric study

“…The face sheets of all panels are made of woven-glass fabric laminates, in which the fabric is E-glass fiber 7628 cloth with the filament diameter of about 10 mm, and the matrix is thermosetting phenolic resin. The face sheets have a fiber volume ratio of 0.60 and a density of 2.31 g/cm 3 and comprise 0 /90 /0 configuration with the fiber direction parallel to one side of the panel. Three different thicknesses of the upper face sheet (H uf ¼ 1.2, 1.5, and 2.0 mm) are considered while all the lower face sheets have an identical thickness of H lf ¼ 2.5 mm.…”

“…Composite sandwich panels made of composite face sheets and foam core have many advantages, such as lightweight, high specific strength, and stiffness. 1,2 However, one of the main concerns in the application of composite structures is the fact that composite sandwich panels are susceptible to indentation failure due to localized loading, 3 such as runway debris, hailstones, and accidentally dropped heavy tools. The load-carrying capacity of the sandwich panels may be significantly reduced by the presence of such damages.…”

Impact and Post-Impact Performance of Sandwich Wall Boards with GFRP Face Sheets and a Web-Foam Core: The Effects of Impact Location

“…In the past 10 years, a lot of studies of the performance of sandwich wall boards have been carried out [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]. Shipsha and Zenkert [ 11 ] conducted an experimental study on compression after impact (CAI) strength of foam-cored sandwich panels.…”

Comparative study of carbon fabric reinforced and glass fabric reinforced thin sandwich panels under impact and static loading

“…They have been used for several decades specially as thick plate (thickness larger than 25 mm) for structural load-bearing members such as airplane wings, blades of helicopter and blades of wind mill, etc. 1,2 But thin sandwich panels (TSPs), thickness less than 5 mm, have hardly been characterized, 3,4 although some auto companies have started using them, especially in their sports models. The outer body of a machine or an appliance usually consists of two kinds of structural members: (i) a strong and stiff frame (ii) and a thin skin material attached over the frame.…”

“…The development of polyester foam Coremats, 3,5 available as thin sheets of 1-3 mm thickness, has made it possible to fabricate TSPs of good quality and of competitive cost. The Coremats are very lightweight and are easy to use as core material.…”