Sandwich-structured composite

About: Sandwich-structured composite is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 5853 publications have been published within this topic receiving 101126 citations.

Boundary condition effects in buckling of soft core sandwich panels

Abstract: The effects of boundary conditions on the critical load level and the corresponding deflection mode shape of sandwich panels with a “soft” core due to in-plane loads are presented. The study is conducted using a closed-form high-order linearized buckling analysis that includes the influence of the transverse flexibility of the core as well as of the localized effects on the overall sandwich panel behavior, and allows the use of different boundary conditions for the upper and lower skin at the same section. The panel construction is general and consists of two skins (not necessary identical), metallic or composite-laminated symmetric, and a soft core made of foam or a low-strength honeycomb. The closed-form high-order analysis yields the general buckling behavior of the structure, which means that the solutions obtained allow for interaction between the skins and the core. The solutions are general and are \Inot\N based on separation of the buckling response on several types of uncoupled buckling modes, such as overall buckling, skins wrinkling, etc., as commonly used in the literature. The numerical scheme consists of finite differences to approximate the governing equations of the closed-form high-order formulation and to transform the set of linearized governing differential equations into an eigenvalue problem that is solved using the deflated iterative Arnoldi procedure. The influence of a general type of boundary conditions, including different conditions throughout the height of the same section and nonidentical conditions at the upper and lower skin, as well as of the core properties, on the buckling behavior of the sandwich panels is considered. The discrepancy between the Timoshenko-Reissner model and the present formulation is discussed. In particular, a partial fixity phenomenon due to the existence of the pinned boundary conditions, i.e., simply supported conditions, at the upper and lower skins at the edge is demonstrated. It is shown that the core properties affect the buckling loads and the corresponding modes of the panel in such a way that the structures with identical boundary conditions but with different cores may undergo different types of buckling such as overall and local as well as interactive loss of stability. The effect of an edge concentrated moment, induced by a couple and exerted on the skins only is also studied.

Development of sandwich panels combining Sisal Fiber-Cement Composites and Fiber-Reinforced Lightweight Concrete

Abstract: This research proposes the development of an innovative structural panels based on the use of thin outer layers of Sisal Fiber-Cement Composites (SiFCC) together with a core layer of Polypropylene Fiber-Reinforced Lightweight Concrete (PFRLC). The influence of sisal fibers was studied in two different ways, short sisal fibers (50 mm) randomly distributed in the matrix, and long unidirectional aligned sisal fibers (700 mm) applied by a cast hand layup technique. Lightweight aggregates and polypropylene fibers were used in the concrete layer forming the panel's core in order to reduce its density and improve its post-cracking tensile strength and energy absorption capacity. The behavior of the sandwich panels in four-point bending test is described, and the various failure mechanisms are reported. Mechanical properties of both SiFCC and PFRLC were obtained, which were also used in the numerical simulations. Pull-off tests were performed to evaluate the bond strength between the outer SiFCC layers and the core PFRLC. The results revealed that the long sisal fibers were more effective in terms of providing to the panel higher flexural capacity than when using short sisal fibers, long fibers ensured the development of a deflection hardening behavior followed by the formation of multiple cracks, while short sisal fibers promoted a softening response after cracking.

A triangular plate element for thermo‐elastic analysis of sandwich panels with a functionally graded core

Abstract: A sandwich construction is commonly composed of a single soft isotropic core with relatively stiff orthotropic face sheets. The stiffness of the core may be functionally graded through the thickness in order to reduce the interfacial shear stresses. In analysing sandwich panels with a functionally gradient core, the three-dimensional conventional finite elements or elements based on the layerwise (zig-zag) theory can be used. Although these elements accurately model a sandwich panel, they are computationally costly when the core is modelled as composed of several layers due to its grading material properties. An alternative to these elements is an element based on a single-layer plate theory in which the weighted-average field variables capture the panel deformation in the thickness direction. This study presents a new triangular finite element based on (3, 2}-order single-layer theory for modelling thick sandwich panels with or without a functionally graded core subjected to thermomechanical loading. A hybrid energy functional is employed in the derivation of the element because of a C 1 interelement continuity requirement. The variations of temperature and distributed loading acting on the top and bottom surfaces are non-uniform. The temperature also varies arbitrarily through the thickness.