Work on Impact Properties of Foam Sandwich Composites with Different Structure

Abstract

Foam core sandwich composites with various facings composed of glass, carbon woven, carbon/Kevlar hybrid, and Kevlar fabrics were fabricated by using RTM process, as well as the through-thickness stitched sandwich samples with glass fabrics; and impact performance was studied at three energy levels. This article proposes that the damage extent of foam core sandwich construction may be characterized by the average damage angle, penetration depth, and maximal cracking width. The results show that the foam core samples with Kevlar facing are optimal for the peak load at load—time plots and the lowest impact damage extent at the same energy level. Compared to the unstitched samples, the average damage angle of stitched samples increases by 48%, the maximal cracking width and penetration depth of stitched samples decrease by 67% and 4% at 25J impact energy level.