Effect of Core Material on the Mechanical Properties of Hybrid CFRP Sandwich Composites

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites with a sandwich structure have unique mechanical properties and have found strategic applications in the marine, aerospace, automobile and etc. industries. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of various core materials, mainely polymer foams, on mechanical characteristics (bending strength and impact strength) of CFRP composites. For the results of this research to be practical, exactly common materials have been used in manufacturing of composites widely used in marine and aerospace industries such as core materials including CoreLite®PVC, Gurit® PVC, Gurit® Corecell™ M100, and AIREX® C71, Plain carbon fiber (T300, 3k, 200 g/m2) and HETRON® 922 Epoxy Vinyl Ester resin. The sandwich composites were fabricated by the conventional hand lay-up process. Bending and impact results revealed that the AIREX® C71/CFRP composite had the highest bending strength (33.61 MPa), bending modulus (1968 MPa) and highest impact strength (38.2 kJ/m2). This achievement provides a simple and efficient approach in relation to high performance sandwich polymer composites, especially in marine and aerospace applications.