Experimental Study on Bending Performance of Composite Sandwich Panel with New Mixed Core

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental investigation of bending performance of composite sandwich panels with new mixed core, sandwich panels were tested by four-point bending test. Parametric study was conducted to investigate the influence of different core materials on the failure mode, ultimate bearing capacity, stiffness and ductility of composite sandwich panels. The results of the experimental investigation showed that the mixed core can change the failure mode of sandwich panels. The failure mode of wooden panels is characterized by tensile failure of bottom wood, and the failure mode of composite sandwich panels with wood core is that the surface layer and core are stripped and the webs are damaged by shear, while the failure mode of composite sandwich panels with wood and polyurethane foam mixed core is the shear failure of the web. Composite sandwich panels with GFRP-wood-polyurethane foam core have better bending performance and can effectively reduce the weight of panels.