On the mechanisms of modal damping in FRP/honeycomb sandwich panels

Abstract

Abstract Sandwich panels made of fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) skins and a honeycomb core can be effectively damped through the choice of the skin and especially of the core materials. Because the core is often highly damped, a lateral deflection that causes more shearing of the core than bending of the skin increases sandwich damping. Aside from the skin and the core material properties, the shearing/bending ratio depends on a number of other, often interacting, factors, including the sandwich planar as well as transverse dimensions, the particular modal pattern in which the panel vibrates and its relationship to the type of skin layup, as well as the panel end conditions. In the present work, using a simple, first-order shear deformation theory, damping results have been produced for simple modes of vibration of a sandwich panel comprising composite skins and a damped honeycomb core, demonstrating the mechanisms by which the above factors affect the FRP skin/honeycomb core sandwich damping.