Abstract
The main benefits of using the sandwich concept in structural components are the high stiffness, good fatigue resistance and low weight ratios. Recent advances in materials and construction techniques have resulted in further improvement and increased uniformity of the sandwich composite properties. In order to use these materials in different applications, the knowledge of simply their static properties alone is not sufficient but additional information on their fatigue properties and durability are required. In this paper, first static and fatigue tests on four points bending of nomex honeycomb composite sandwich panels have been performed. Load/displacement and S-N fatigue curves are presented and analysed. Fatigue failure and damage modes are observed with an optical microscope and are discussed. The second is to address such fatigue behaviour by using a damage model and check it by experimentation. This fatigue damage model is based on stiffness degradation, which is used as a damage indicator. Two non-linear cumulative damage models derived from the chosen stiffness degradation equation are examined with assumption of linear Miner’s damage summation. Predicted results are compared with available experimental data.
Highlights
Sandwich composites are widely employed in modern mechanical design, in the field of aeronautical constructions, where they have initially been developed, and in the fields of land transports and marine constructions
There is an interesting feature in stiffness degradation approach that only limited amount of data is needed for obtaining reasonable results [11] reports that the reduction of bending strength of foam cored sandwich specimen is caused by the stiffness reduction of foam due to ageing of polyurethane foam during fatigue cycles. [12] investigate the static and flexural fatigue characteristics of foam core polymer composite sandwich beams
The aim of this study is to develop analytical models describing the flexural behaviour of sandwich composite panels under cyclic fatigue
Summary
Sandwich composites are widely employed in modern mechanical design, in the field of aeronautical constructions, where they have initially been developed, and in the fields of land transports and marine constructions Because of their main features, such as the high flexural resistance and stiffness [1], the high impact strength and the high corrosion resistance and the low thermal and acoustics conductivity [2], sandwich structures are preferred over conventional materials in various industrial applications. Large numbers of research projects have been performed by various authors, the design of structural elements made from sandwich composites is often a difficult task This is mainly because a reliable strength prediction needs the preliminary knowledge of the mechanical behaviour of skins and core, as well as of the peculiar damage mechanisms [3] and [4] and failure criteria that can be used under a complex loading.
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