Laterally supported sandwich panels subjected to large deflections—Part 1: Test apparatus design and experimental results

This paper deals with the experimental characterization of the structural behavior of sandwich panels under distributed transverse loadings. A configuration typically used in aircraft interior applications is considered: a simply supported rectangular plate fixed by bolts on the two longitudinal edges or on all four edges. The panel and joint stiffness are experimentally evaluated and a test apparatus is designed and instrumented to measure the reaction shear loads at the panel attachment bolts and the transverse deflection of the plate. The results demonstrate the importance of a nonlinear analysis for the design of this type of structure. A companion paper, describes the FE analysis procedure utilized to simulate the nonlinear behavior of the tested panels. The numerical results are validated against the experimental results.