Thickness Effect of Triangle Shape Corrugated Composite Laminate on Flexural Behavior of a New Type Sandwich Panel

Thickness Effect of Triangle Shape Corrugated Composite Laminate on Flexural Behavior of a New Type Sandwich Panel

In this research the study of a new type sandwich panel with glass/epoxy skins and corrugated composite-foam core under transverse loading are considered. Sandwich panels are a type of composites that consist of two outer strong and thin skins and a light and thick core located in between the skins that provide good advantages like high strength/stiffness to weight or mass ratio. Corrugated composite laminate was built using the hand layup method and the experimental technique, VARTM (Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding) was used to join the skins to the core with higher quality. Three-point bending test load was applied to the samples according to ASTM standard. Finite element analysis was applied for determining maximum deflections of samples, as a second method. Two types of core are considered. First is a simple foam core but in second a triangle shape corrugated composite laminate with three different thicknesses is improvised. It has been shown that the flexural stiffness of second type sandwich panel was improved with increasing in thickness of corrugated composite form 1 layer to 3 and 5 layers. Also The flexural stiffness to mass ratio was improved respect to sample with simple foam core by adding 1 layer and 3 layers glass/epoxy corrugated composite to the core respectively. But with increasing the number of layer of corrugated composite to 5 layers; it decrease. Finally the experimental and finite element results were compared. Also the numerical results show a good agreement with experimental results.