Abstract
Polymer sandwich structures have high bending stiffness and strength and also low weight. Therefore, they are widely used in the transportation industry. In the conceptual design phase, it is essential to have a method to model the mechanical behavior of the sandwich and its adhesive joints accurately in full-vehicle scale to investigate different structure partitioning strategies. In this paper, a novel approach using finite element modeling is introduced. The sandwich panels are modeled with layered shells and the joint lines with general stiffness matrices. Stiffness parameters of the face-sheets and the core material are obtained via mechanical tests. Stiffness parameters of the joints are determined by using the method of Design of Experiments, where detailed sub-models of the joints serve as a reference. These models are validated with experimental tests of glass-fiber reinforced vinyl ester matrix composite sandwich structure with a foam core. By using two joint designs and three reference geometries, it is shown that the method is suitable to describe the deformation behavior in a full-vehicle scale with sufficient accuracy.
Highlights
In the case of polymer composite structures, the most common joint technique is the adhesive joint [1]
There are many pieces of research that focus on the modeling of sandwich structures and adhesive joints
In the conceptual design phase of a vehicle, it is essential to have a method to model the mechanical behavior of the sandwich and its adhesive joints in full-vehicle scale to investigate different structure partitioning strategies
Summary
In the case of polymer composite structures, the most common joint technique is the adhesive joint [1]. Manalo and Aravinthan [6] showed an analytical and experimental investigation of a glued sandwich material used in civil engineering applications. It consists of a glass fiber reinforced polymer skin and a high strength phenolic core material. The analytical method takes into account the non-linear behavior of the core material in compression, the cracking of the core in tension, and the linear elastic behavior of the composite face-sheets By considering these effects, the results showed a good agreement with experimental tests, so the method can be efficient when designing sandwich structures under flexural load. The model is robust enough, and the results show good agreement with 3D models
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
