Mechanical performances of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) foam sandwich composites with glass cloth face-sheet

Abstract

The mechanical performances of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) foam sandwich panels with different types of cores prepared by vacuum-assisted resin infusion process (VARI) were investigated. The flatwise, edge-wise compression, flexural and impact properties of three types of PVC sandwich panels of the prepared panels were performed. The results show that the mechanical performances of the foam sandwich composites can be enhanced due to the presence of polymer pins, and the impact properties appear slightly different at different stages. Due to the existence of pins, the energy absorption and impact properties of the sandwich panels are slightly reduced during the impact rebound phase, while the impact properties of the three sandwich panels do not change much during the impact penetrated phase. The contact surface and the cross-section through the damaged area were observed to analyze the failure modes of sandwich composites.