Abstract:
Maintaining the lightweight performance of sandwich structures while achieving good bending strength and stiffness is difficult. Core materials for these programmable sandwich constructions are 3D printed with hexagonal honeycomb, re-entrant honeycomb, and circular honeycomb topologies with varying core densities. The bending stiffness and strength of these sandwich structures are determined by a three points bending test including an Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene core and a unidirectional carbon fibre reinforced polymer face sheet. The sandwich composite with the greater relative core density displays greater bending strength and stiffness than the composite with the lower relative core density. The sandwich composites beam with re-entrant honeycomb core exhibit the strongest bending strength and stiffness due to negative Poisson’s ratio. The findings were compared with experimental data using finite element analysis. Experiments and finite element analysis reveal that designed core structures can be used to regulate bending qualities. These results provide fresh light on the design of sandwich composite structures with exceptional mechanical characteristics for a broad variety of industrial and structural applications.
