Experimental Investigation of Flexural Behavior of Sandwich Beams With a Puf Core and Embedded Rigid Inserts

Abstract

This investigation is concerned with the experimental investigation of strength and stiffness of sandwich panels with rigid inclusions (inserts) embedded in a PUF core. Four point and Three point flexural tests were conducted on number of sandwich specimens fabricated by woven glass cloth FRP as facings, polyurethane foam as core with epoxy resin as bonding medium between core and the facings. The strength and stiffness estimated in this investigation with rigid inserts revealed that the use of inserts improves the stiffness and load bearing capacity of the panels. Inserts that are connected to the face sheets and extended through the depth of the core were considered. This investigation has confirmed the importance of experiments in the field of sandwich constructions with rigid inclusions which can effectively replace other conventional sandwich constructions which are currently in use.