Mechanical response of a novel composite Y-frame core sandwich panel under shear loading

Abstract

The hot-press molding method was developed to fabricate a novel composite Y-frame core sandwich panel in this paper. The shear experiments were conducted to investigate the shear mechanical response of the composite Y-frame core sandwich panels with different relative densities. The impact of relative density on the failure behavior, shear stress-strain curves and shear properties were discussed. The shear tests indicated that the shear mechanical response of the composite Y-frame core sandwich panels was significantly influenced by the relative density. It was observed from the tests that the delamination failure at the web of the Y-frame core was the dominant failure mode. The shear stress-strain curves of the composite Y-frame core sandwich panels with different relative densities were featured by three typical stages and two peak stresses. The shear strength and stiffness of the composite Y-frame core sandwich panels were predicted, which were in good agreement with the experimental results.