The review outlines modern trends in theoretical developments, novel designs and modern applications of sandwich structures. The most recent work published at the time of writing of this review is considered, older sources are listed only on as-needed basis. The review begins with the discussion on the analytical models and methods of analysis of sandwich structures as well as representative problems utilizing or comparing these models. Novel designs of sandwich structures is further elucidated concentrating on miscellaneous cores, introduction of nanotubes and smart materials in the elements of a sandwich structure as well as using functionally graded designs. Examples of problems experienced by developers and designers of sandwich structures, including typical damage, response under miscellaneous loads, environmental effects and fire are considered. Sample applications of sandwich structures included in the review concentrate on aerospace, civil and marine engineering, electronics and biomedical areas. Finally, the authors suggest a list of areas where they envision a pressing need in further research.

Review of current trends in research and applications of sandwich structures

Experimental and numerical study on honeycomb sandwich panels under bending and in-panel compression

Bio-inspired engineering design has drawn considerable attention in the recent years for its great structural and mechanical features. This study aimed to explore the energy absorption characteristics of a novel bionic-bamboo tube (BBT) structure subjected to axial crushing. The tubes with six different cross-sectional configurations were devised with inspiration of bamboo microstructure. The effects of rib shape and rib number were analyzed by using the finite element code LS-DYNA. The numerical results indicated that the BBT structures with the rib shape of “X” and the rib number of six exhibited the best crashworthiness. To further improve the energy absorption capabilities of these BBT structures, the multiobjective optimization was employed with respect to design variables of configurational structure, such as the rib angle of the “X” shaped cross-section, center distance and rib thickness. The response surface method (RSM) and multiobjective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) algorithm were adopted to maximize specific energy absorption (SEA) while minimizing peak crushing force (PCF). The optimization results demonstrated that compared to the baseline design, the SEA value of the optimized BBT structure was further increased by 6.84% without sacrificing in peak crushing force.

Design of bionic-bamboo thin-walled structures for energy absorption

This paper aims to investigate the lateral planar crushing and bending responses of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) square tube filled with aluminum honeycomb. The various failure modes and mechanical characteristics of filled tube were experimentally captured and numerically predicted by commercial finite element (FE) package LS-DYNA, comparing to the hollow tubes. The filled aluminum honeycomb effectively improved the stability of progressive collapse during crushing, leading to both hinges symmetrically occurred along the vertical side. The experimental results showed that energy absorbed (EA) and specific energy absorption (SEA) of the filled CFRP tubes could be significantly increased to 6.56 and 4 times, respectively, of those measured for the hollow tubes without fillings under lateral crushing. Although an improvement of 32% of EA and 0.9% of SEA were obtained for the lateral bending, still the design using aluminum honeycomb as filling was remarkably capable to improve the mechanical characteristics of CFRP tube structure. A good agreement was obtained between experimentally measured and numerically predicted load-displacement histories. The FE prediction was also helpful in understanding the initiation and propagation of cracks within the filled CFRP structure.

Lateral crushing and bending responses of CFRP square tube filled with aluminum honeycomb

This paper systematically investigates the low-velocity impact response and resulting damage behavior of aluminum honeycomb sandwich structures with carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) face sheets by combining the experimental and numerical methods. Low-velocity impact tests are conducted to determine and quantify the effects of structural parameters, such as face sheet thickness, cell wall thickness, honeycomb core height and hexagon side length, on the impact load, energy absorption, and failure mode. To further elucidate the impact behavior, a user VUMAT subroutine is developed to predict the progressive failure behavior of composite face sheets. Numerical simulation is performed to characterize the impact response and explore the deformation/failure mechanisms. The predicted impact load, energy absorption, contact time and failure mode agree well with measured counterparts. These studies reveal the face sheet thickness has particularly significant influence on the impact resistance performance of honeycomb structures. Cell wall thickness and side length of honeycomb core have notable effect on the impact load and structural stiffness of such structures, while which do not play a great role in energy absorption. Increase in core height has comparatively little effect on initial stiffness and energy absorption but makes the second peak loads decreasing for the perforation cases.

Effect of structural parameters on low-velocity impact behavior of aluminum honeycomb sandwich structures with CFRP face sheets

The paper investigated the dynamic impact response and characteristics of aluminum honeycomb filled with EPP foam (Expanded polypropylene) experimentally and numerically. It was found that the initial peak strength and mean strength of the filled honeycomb were improved significantly attributable to the interaction effect between the aluminum honeycomb and the foam, but the specific energy absorption (SEA) decreased. For the filled specimens with the same foam density, the initial peak strength, mean strength and SEA increased with the increase in impact velocity. Compared with the characteristics in the static compression test, the initial peak strength in the dynamic impact test increased, whereas the mean strength and SEA decreased. The study showed that EPP foam filling was effective to improve the impact characteristics of the bare aluminum honeycomb. Numerical simulation for the dynamic impact of filled honeycombs was also explored. It accurately reproduced the deformation process and addressed the interaction between the wall and EPP foam. By comparison of the properties in different filling types, it showed the single-cell filling was a good choice to improve the load resistance while using the least filling material.

Dynamic impact response of aluminum honeycombs filled with Expanded Polypropylene foam

Static and dynamic crushing responses of CFRP sandwich panels filled with different reinforced materials

Design of multi-cell sectional configuration has been considered an effective way to enhance the crashworthiness performance of metallic thin-walled structure. Nevertheless, it remains under-studied whether this approach can achieve similar effect for fiber reinforced composite structures. Therefore, this paper aims to study the crushing responses and energy absorption behaviors of multi-cell squared carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) tubes fabricated by using hot compression molding process. The effects of CFRP cell number, wall thickness and trigger mechanism on crashworthiness characteristics were investigated. The experimental results showed that under the same weight, the energy absorption of double-cell tube was lower than that of single-cell tube. This was due to the fact that there was insufficient deformation in the T-shaped region of double-cell CFRP tube. The inner fronds generated in the middle ribs caused part of tubal wall near T-shaped region to bend completely outwards rather than to crush progressively under axial compression, thus losing certain capacity of energy absorption. In addition, a double-shell finite element model was constructed to gain further insights into the crushing behavior of the double-cell CFRP tube. The numerical model effectively replicated the collapse mode; and good agreement was obtained between the experimental and numerical load-displacement curves. The study exhibits considerable potential of developing crashworthy multi-cell CFRP structures.

Yanqin Zhang

Papers

Dynamic impact response of aluminum honeycombs filled with Expanded Polypropylene foam

Static and dynamic crushing responses of CFRP sandwich panels filled with different reinforced materials

Crushing responses and energy absorption behaviors of multi-cell CFRP tubes