Bending behavior of sandwich structures with different fiber facing types and extremely low-density foam cores

Cagri Uzay; Necdet Geren; Mete Han Boztepe; Melih Bayramoglu

doi:10.3139/120.111311

Article

Bending behavior of sandwich structures with different fiber facing types and extremely low-density foam cores

Cagri Uzay , Necdet Geren , Mete Han Boztepe and Melih Bayramoglu

Published/Copyright: February 21, 2019

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From the journal Materials Testing Volume 61 Issue 3

Abstract

Sandwich structures offer innovative alternative solutions to many weight-critical industrial fields due to their lightweight and very high flexural rigidity compared to conventional materials. A vast number of sandwich configurations can be produced from a variety of materials for use as face sheets and core as well as matrix. Although there are many sandwich structures available in the literature to obtain the desired mechanical and physical properties, the usage of very low-density core materials is very limited. In this study, carbon and glass fiber fabrics having woven plain and ±45 ° fiber orientations and industrial PVC foam core having extremely low density of 40 kg × m⁻³ and 48 kg × m⁻³ were used for manufacturing the sandwich panels. Eight different configurations were constructed by hand lay-up followed by vacuum bagging. According to ASTM C393/C393M standard, the sandwiches were subjected to three-point bending (TPB) tests. After performing the TPB tests, the composite sandwich specimens were examined under a stereomicroscope to determine failure modes. The primary failure modes under quasi-static bending loading were found to be top face sheet failures due to fiber and matrix cracks and delamination, and core shear failures due to core crushing just below the top facing and core fractures. In addition, the consistency of the test results were verified and the effects of parameters were investigated by using statistical variance (ANOVA) and regression analysis. The study provides a valuable contribution to the literature regarding sandwich structures having extremely low-density foam core materials and may contribute to the material universe by introducing strong, stiff and lightweight sandwich composites. It provides a comprehensive comparison by considering the effect of different fiber types, fabric fiber orientations and core densities.

*Correspondence Address, Cagri Uzay, University of Çukurova, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 01330 Saricam-Adana, Turkey, E-mail: cuzay@cu.edu.tr, cuzay46@gmail.com

Cagri Uzay, born in 1989, received his BSc in 2012 and his MSc in 2014, and enrolled in a program for a PhD in the Mechanical Engineering Department of Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey. He is currently Research Assistant in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Cukurova, Adana, Turkey. His research interests include machine elements design, composite materials and manufacturing.

Prof. Dr. Necdet Geren, born in 1963, received his PhD degree in 1993 from the Department of Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering of University of Salford, UK. He is currently Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Cukurova, Adana, Turkey. His research interests cover machine design, the design of machine members and the design of manufacturing systems. He is currently working on composite materials.

Mete Han Boztepe, born in 1981, received his BSc in 2006 and his MSc in 2014, and enrolled in a program for a PhD in the Mechanical Engineering Department of Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey. He is currently Research Assistant in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Cukurova, Adana, Turkey. His research interests include boronizing, boron, composite materials and manufacturing.

Prof. Dr. Melih Bayramoğlu received his PhD from the University of Birmingham, UK, in Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering in 1993. He is currently Professor at the Mechanical Engineering Department of the Cukurova University in Adana, Turkey. His work at the university involves giving courses and conducting research in the areas of machining, design, water jet cutting, welding and surface treatment.

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Published Online: 2019-02-21

Published in Print: 2019-03-01

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