Multilayer Sandwich Structure Research Articles

Crashworthiness analysis and optimization of brain-coral-inspired multilayer sandwich structures under axial crushing

Inspired by brain corals and cuttlebone, this study employed 3D printing technology to fabricate a novel bio-inspired multilayer sandwich structure based on the Hilbert space-filling curve (named BHSS). The mechanical behavior and deformation process of the BHSS were compared through quasi-static axial crushing experiments and finite element (FE) simulations. The energy absorbing characteristics of the BHSS with different layers were compared through FE simulations, and the results indicated that the 4-layer BHSS displayed superior crashworthiness. Then, parametric studies were conducted to investigate the influence of layer-height gradient and wall-thickness gradient on the energy absorption performance and deformation modes of the BHSS. It was confirmed that the double gradient designs significantly reduced the initial peak force and improved the specific energy absorption of the BHSS. Finally, the multi-objectives optimization based on response surface method and the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) was employed to optimize the geometric parameters of the BHSS, aiming at the optimal configuration for better crashworthiness. Compared to the original design structure, the SEA of the optimized knee point structure was increased by 21.8% and the IPF was reduced by 72.6%. These findings provided valuable guidelines for the brain-coral-inspired design of multilayer sandwich structures with superior energy-absorbing performance.

New Accomplishments on the Equivalence of the First-Order Displacement-Based Zigzag Theories through a Unified Formulation

The paper presents a critical review and new accomplishments on the equivalence of the first-order displacement-based zigzag theories for laminated composite and sandwich structures. Zigzag theories (ZZTs) have widely spread among researchers over the last few decades thanks to their accuracy in predicting the response of multilayered composite and sandwich structures while retaining the simplicity of their underlying equivalent single-layer (ESL) theory. The displacement field consists of two main contributions: the global one, able to describe the overall structural behaviour, and the local layer-wise one that considers the transverse shear continuity at the layer interfaces that describe the “zigzag” displacement pattern typical of multilayered structures. In the framework of displacement-based linear ZZTs, various assumptions have been made on the local contribution, and different theories have been deduced. This paper aims to provide a unified formulation for first-order ZZTs, highlighting some common aspects and underlying equivalencies with existing formulations. The mathematical demonstrations and the numerical examples prove the equivalence of the approaches to characterising local zigzag enrichment. Finally, it is demonstrated that the kinematic assumptions are the discriminants of the ZZTs’ accuracy.

Self-similar chiral organic molecular cages

The endeavor to enhance utility of organic molecular cages involves the evolution of them into higher-level chiral superstructures with self-similar, presenting a meaningful yet challenging. In this work, 2D tri-bladed propeller-shaped triphenylbenzene serves as building blocks to synthesize a racemic 3D tri-bladed propeller-shaped helical molecular cage. This cage, in turn, acts as a building block for a pair of higher-level 3D tri-bladed chiral helical molecular cages, featuring multilayer sandwich structures and displaying elegant characteristics with self-similarity in discrete superstructures at different levels. The evolutionary procession of higher-level cages reveals intramolecular self-shielding effects and exclusive chiral narcissistic self-sorting behaviors. Enantiomers higher-level cages can be interconverted by introducing an excess of corresponding chiral cyclohexanediamine. In the solid state, higher-level cages self-assemble into supramolecular architectures of L-helical or D-helical nanofibers, achieving the scale transformation of chiral characteristics from chiral atoms to microscopic and then to mesoscopic levels.

Toughness and High‐Electromagnetic‐Shielding CPM Composite Film with Multilayer Sandwich Structure Based on Mxene

Electromagnetic shielding (EMI) films with excellent EMI and mechanical performances has been a hotspot in the EMI field. Herein, CNF/PDA@MXene (CPM) composite films exhibiting satisfactory mechanical and EMI properties are fabricated via vacuum filtration using PDA@MXene as the shielding layer and CNF/PDA as the mechanical layer. Results revealed that the optimal mass ratio of MXene to hydroxytyramine (DA) is 100:6 and that of CNF to DA is 70:30. The optimal arrangement is comprised by two layers of CNF/PDA and one layer of PDA@MXene. The breaking strength, breaking elongation, and toughness of the CPM composite film are 198.0 MPa, 2.9%, and 3.22 MJ m−3, which increased by 27.4, 3.5, and 106 times compared to those of a pure MXene film, respectively. Furthermore, the EMI efficiency of the CPM composite film reached 46.1 dB. Moreover, the EMI performance of the CPM composite film exhibited only slight changes under the conditions of ultrasonic shock, humid environment, and bending for 1000 times.

Parametric studies and compressive performance of GH4169/K465 Kagome lattice structure prepared by selective laser melting

This paper is proposed a sufficient strategy to enhance the Kagome lattice structure by introducing sphere connections at the joints of the rods. Three types of lattice structures, namely single-cell Kagome, sandwich monocyte, and multi-layer sandwich GH4169/K465, were fabricated through the selective laser melting method. Experimental results demonstrated that the load peak value of the lattice structure increased gradually with variations in rod diameter and angle. When the rod diameter is 2 mm and the angle is 50°, the comprehensive performance is relatively excellent. Both the single-cell Kagome and sandwich monocyte structures exhibited a secondary load peak curve for the load versus displacement curve.The primary failure mode of the spherical connections Kagome structure is member fracture. For sandwich cell structures, when the rod diameter is 1.1 mm, the elastic modulus, yield strength and energy absorption of SRK are 412 MPa, 17.02 MPa and 8.05 MJ/mm3, respectively. When the rod diameter is increased to 1.7 mm, the properties of SRK are 561 MPa, 84.32 MPa and 35.49 MJ/mm3, respectively. The properties of SRK gradually increase with the increase of rod diameter. the elastic modulus, yield strength, and energy absorption of strut-reinforced Kagome with varying rod diameters surpass those of both the Kagome and spherical connections Kagome structures. The failure mode in strut-reinforced Kagome structures is primarily due to rod buckling. In the compressive stress-strain curve of the multi-layer sandwich structure,when the deformation amount is 0.2, SRK has a higher compressive strength than Kagome and SCK structure, which can reach about 350 MPa, while Kagome and SCK are lower than 200 MPa. demonstrated a gradual increasing trend in stress with increasing strain. In addition, the mechanical properties of the Kagome lattice structure are enhanced due to partial structural failure, with fracture occurring in certain members.

Investigation of Structural Energy Absorption Performance in 3D-Printed Polymer (Tough 1500 Resin) Materials with Novel Multilayer Thin-Walled Sandwich Structures Inspired by Peano Space-Filling Curves.

Inspired by Peano space-filling curves (PSCs), this study introduced the space-filling structure design concept to novel thin-walled sandwich structures and fabricated polymer samples by 3D printing technology. The crushing behaviors and energy absorption performance of the PSC multilayer thin-walled sandwich structures and the traditional serpentine space-filling curve (SSC) multilayer thin-walled sandwich structures were investigated using quasi-static compression experiments and numerical analysis. Taking the initial peak crushing force (IPF), specific energy absorption (SEA), and crushing force efficiency (CFE) as evaluation criteria, the effects of geometric parameters, including the curve order, layer height, septa thickness, and wall thickness, on energy absorption performance were comprehensively examined. The results indicated that the energy absorption capacity of the PSC structure was significantly enhanced due to its complex hierarchy. Specifically, the second-order PSC structure demonstrated a 53.2% increase in energy absorption compared to the second-order SSC structure, while the third-order PSC structure showed more than a six-fold increase in energy absorption compared to the third-order SSC structure. Furthermore, a multi-objective optimization method based on the response surface method and the NSGA-II algorithm were employed to optimize the wall thickness and layer height of the proposed novel PSC structures. The optimal solutions suggested that a reasonable wall thickness and layer height were two important factors for designing PSC structures with better energy absorption performance. The findings of this study provide an effective guide for using the space-filling concept with Peano curves for the design of a novel polymer thin-walled energy absorber with high energy absorption efficiency.

Numerical Investigations of Multilayered Sandwich Structures under Free Vibrations

Abstract: Important structural properties of composite materials, such as high strength-to-weight and high stiffness-to-weight ratios, have resulted in a great need for these materials in various engineering industries, such as Mechanical, Civil, Automobile and Aerospace Engineering. This paper presents results from numerical investigations using software based on Finite Element Method (FEM) and its comparison with other theories from the literature under free vibrations of 5 and 7 layered sandwich plates. This study utilizes the finite element method to perform modal analysis of a sandwich composite plate with a honeycomb core. In this paper, the modal responses of a flat rectangular sandwich plate with a honeycomb core using FEM software are presented. To confirm the accuracy and reliability of the current model, validation with present literature is studied. In this study, aluminum honeycomb is used as the core materials, while glass fiber reinforced composite is used for the top and bottom of the plate to examine modal responses. Free vibration responses are investigated for the various boundary situations. The modal analysis of composite sandwich constructions was investigated, and the results were verified using available literature. The sandwich structure was solved using a finite element approach, which was modeled in ABAQUS software. The results indicated that frequencies by FEM software are in good agreement with other literature results.

Flash joining of metal-ceramic multi-layered sandwich structure

The present study uses Flash joining technique to join sandwiched Titanium (Ti) metal with two pre-sintered Titanium dioxide (TiO2) pellets. This method employs Direct Current (DC) to enable rapid diffusion across stacked layers, due to Joule heating, resulting in reliable and continuous interface of the sandwich structure. Joining was found to be more uniform and continuous at lower current density, with respect to that at higher current densities. However, current direction has a detrimental effect on the anodic interface in comparison to the cathodic interface, resulting in superior mechanical properties at cathodic interface. This differential joining behaviour can be attributed to concentration of oxygen vacancies at the anodic interface. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy and Raman, indicating higher concentration of oxygen vacancies at anodic interface, support this notion. The study reveals the directional effect of the current on joining ceramics to metals to attain superior structural integrity for complex multi-layered sandwich structures.

SiN/VO2/SiN Sandwich‐Based Resonant Waveguide Grating to Produce Thermally Activated Optical Components

AbstractThe insulator‐to‐metal transition (IMT) of vanadium dioxide (VO2) at ≈68 °C enables a variety of optical applications, including switching and modulation, and tuning of optical resonators. This work designs and demonstrates a novel thermally activated optical switch consisting of a SiN/VO2/SiN multilayer sandwich structure with an AMONIL‐based grating with a reduced transition temperature of 47 °C. The optical switching in the multilayer is due to the IMT of the VO2‐embedded layer. Here, the asymmetrical TE1 mode exhibiting a quasi‐zero electric field in the center of the multilayer waveguide is excited in the resonant waveguide grating (RWG) structure under normal incidence via the AMONIL‐based grating printed on top, leading to high resonant transmittance (75%) at room temperature. Increasing the temperature to more than 47 °C causes VO2 to undergo an insulator‐to‐metal transition accompanied by optical modifications in the IR region, completely canceling the resonance effect, while reducing the transmittance to 30%. Further, the modeling results aimed at optimizing the design of the experimental structure. These results demonstrate good performance of the proposed design and pave the way to fabricate VO2‐based optical switches for photonics applications including lasers, sensors, and detectors, in which external stimuli such as heat affect the transmittance or reflectance spectrum.

Dynamic response of multilayer sandwich beams with foam-filled trapezoidal corrugated and foam cores under low-velocity impact

The paper focuses on the dynamic response of multilayer sandwich beams with foam-filled trapezoidal corrugated and foam cores under low-velocity impact with heavy-mass using analytical and numerical methods. Based on the yield criterion for the multilayer sandwich structure, the circumscribing and inscribing loci of sandwich structure are obtained. Considering the interaction of bending and stretching, the analytical solution and “bound” solution for the dynamic response of multilayer sandwich beams with foam-filled trapezoidal corrugated and foam cores are developed. The numerical calculations are used to verify the analytical solutions, and all lie within the analytical “bound” predications. Then, the influences of impact position, foam strength and face-sheet thickness on the dynamic response of multilayer sandwich beams are discussed in detail by theoretical model. For a given deflection, the impact force decreases with impact position closer to the midspan, the impact force increases with the increase of foam strength and face-sheet thickness. The present analytical model can effectively predict the dynamic response of fully clamped multilayer sandwich beams with foam-filled trapezoidal corrugated and foam cores under low-velocity impact.

Two-Steps Method to Prepare Multilayer Sandwich Structure Carbon Fiber Composite with Thermal and Electrical Anisotropy and Electromagnetic Interference Shielding.

Carbon fiber (CF) composites performance enhancement is a research hotspot at present. In this work, first, a sandwich structure composite, CF@(carbon nanotube/Fe3O4)/epoxy (CF@(CNT/Fe3O4)/EP), is prepared by the free arc dispersion-CFs surface spraying-rolling process method, herein, CFs in the middle layer and (CNT/Fe3O4)/EP as top and substrate layer. Then, CF@(CNT/Fe3O4)/EP (on both sides) and CFs (in the middle) are overlapped by structure design, forming a multilayer CF@(CNT/Fe3O4)/EP-CFs composite with a CFs core sheath. A small amount of CNT/Fe3O4 is consumed, (CNT/Fe3O4)/EP and CFs core sheath realize thermal and electrical anisotropy and directional enhancement, and multilayer sandwich structure makes the electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding performance better strengthened by multiple absorption-reflection/penetration-reabsorption. From CF-0 to CF-8, CNT/Fe3O4 content only increases by 0.045 wt%, axial thermal conductivity (λ‖) increases from 0.59 W/(m·K) to 1.1 W/(m·K), growth rate is 86%, radial thermal conductivity (λ⟂) only increases by 0.05 W/(m·K), the maximum λ‖/λ⟂ is 2.9, axial electrical conductivity (σ‖) increases from 6.2 S/cm to 7.7 S/cm, growth rate is 24%, radial electrical conductivity (σ⟂) only increases by 0.7 × 10-4 S/cm, the total EMI shielding effectiveness (EMI SET) increases by 196%, from 10.3 dB to 30.5 dB. This provides a new idea for enhancing CFs composite properties.

A Brief Review on Advanced Sandwich Structures with Customized Design Core and Composite Face Sheet.

Sandwich structures are a class of multifunctional high-performance structural composites that have the advantages of being lightweight, of a high strength-to-weight ratio, and of high specific energy absorption capabilities. The creative design of the core along with the apposite material selection for the fabrication of the face sheet and core are the two prerequisites with encouraging areas for further expedition towards the fabrication of advanced composite sandwich structures. The current review work focused on different types of core designs, such as truss, foam, corrugated, honeycomb, derivative, hybrid, hollow, hierarchical, gradient, folded, and smart core along with different composite materials accessible for face sheet fabrication, including fiber-reinforced composite, metal matrix composite, and polymer matrix composite are considered. The joining method plays a major role for the performance evolution of sandwich structures, which were also investigated. Further discussions are aligned to address major challenges in the fabrication of sandwich structures and further enlighten the future direction of the advanced composite sandwich structure. Finally, the work is summarized with a brief conclusion. This review article provides wider guidelines for researchers in designing and manufacturing next-generation lightweight multilayer core sandwich structures.

Large deflection of multilayer sandwich beams with foam-filled trapezoidal corrugated and foam cores

The paper used the analytical and numerical methods to analyze large deflection of multilayer sandwich beams with foam-filled trapezoidal corrugated and foam cores. Considering both the strength of metal foam and corrugated core, we obtained a yield criterion for the multilayer sandwich structure foam-filled trapezoidal corrugated and foam cores. Based on proposed yield criterion, we further presented an analytical solution for large deflection of such multilayer sandwich beam under transverse loading. Well agreement is achieved between analytical and numerical results. What is more, we discussed the effects of foam strength, punch size, face-sheet thickness and middle foam thickness on the plastic behaviors.

Bio-inspired optimization design and fluid–solid-thermal multi-field verification analysis of labyrinth seal

Labyrinth seals are widely used in turbomachinery devices to prevent the leakage of fluid medium in seal structures. Under high parametrical environments, the heat generated by frictional resistance of the turbulence between the stator and rotor walls not only increases the temperature of the fluid and the solid, but also reduces the operation efficiency of the device. Therefore, it is necessary to implement the fluid–solid-thermal multi-field analysis of labyrinth seals and propose a comprehensive optimization design of the load-bearing and heat insulation. In the present study, inspired by a bionic snail shell, a sandwich structure with load-bearing material on both upper and lower surfaces and the heat insulation material in the middle is obtained through the genetic algorithm optimization. Then, the luid-solid-thermal multi-field analysis of the labyrinth seal with the sandwich structure is carried out. It is verified that the layer arrangement and layer thickness ratio of the bionic structure ensured the optimal performance of load-bearing and heat insulation. After changing the layer arrangement or layer thickness ratio, the comprehensive performance of load-bearing and heat insulation is obviously weakened. The result shows that the bionic multilayer sandwich structure can be applied to the labyrinth seal to achieve optimal comprehensive performance of load-bearing and heat insulation.

Mechanical properties of carbon/glass fiber reinforced polymer plates with sandwich structure exposed to freezing-thawing environment: Effects of water immersion, bending loading and fiber hybrid mode

In this article, two kinds of carbon/glass fiber hybrid rod with the sandwich structures were designed and developed through the pultrusion technology, including the fiber random hybrid (RH) mode with multi-layer sandwich structure and fiber core-shell hybrid (CH) mode with single-layer sandwich structure. The hybrid sandwich-structure plates were prepared from the rod and immersed in bending loading, temperature alternating and sustained water immersion as long as 360 days. The effect of fiber hybrid mode/sandwich structure on the degradation mechanism of mechanical properties was revealed through the digital image correlation and thermogravimetric analysis. Through the fiber hybrid design, the strength improvement percentages of RH plates with multi-layer sandwich structure were up to ∼50% (tensile strength), 30 ∼ 40% (flexural strength) and 18% (in-plane shear strength) compared to CH plates with single-layer sandwich structure. Higher bending loading level brought about the decrease of flexural strength and in-plane shear strength close to 18% and 19%, respectively. During the immersion, microcracks or microvoids formed and expanded in the resin tensile area under the bending loading and water diffusion, leading to the uncoordinated stress concentration for single-layer sandwich-structure CH plate. By uniformly dispersing carbon fibers into glass fibers, the uneven interface stress concentration can be effectively alleviated for multi-layer sandwich-structure RH plates. The comparison of mechanical properties with the others’ work showed the interface shear strength was more sensitive to the bending loading and immersion temperature. The long-term life prediction showed the maximum increase percentages of mechanical properties of multi-layer sandwich structure were 435.4% (tensile strength) and 149.2% (flexural strength) and 110.7–114.2% (shear strength) compared to the single-layer sandwich structure.

Active Flutter Suppression of Smart-Skin Antenna Structures with Piezoelectric Sensors and Actuators

A smart-skin antenna structure is investigated for active flutter control with piezoelectric sensors and actuators. The skin antenna is designed as a multilayer sandwich structure with a dielectric polymer to perform the role of antenna or radar structures. The governing equations are developed according to the first-order shear deformation theory, and von Karman strain–displacement relationships are used for the moderate geometrical nonlinearity. To consider the supersonic airflow, first-order piston theory is performed for the aerodynamic pressures. The linear quadratic regulator (LQR) method is applied as a control algorithm, and Newmark’s method is studied to obtain the numerical results. In the present study, the effects of placements and shape of piezoelectric patches are discussed on the flutter control of the model in detail. In addition, the numerical results show that the skin antenna model can effectively suppress the panel flutter behaviors of the model, optimal conditions of piezoelectric patches are obtained for skin antenna structures.

Compression Experiment and Failure Analysis of Additive Manufactured Multi-Layer Lattice Sandwich Structure

The rapid development of additive manufacturing technology provides a new opportunity for the fabrication and research of multi-layer lattice sandwich structures, and thereby some excellent performances can be further discovered. Based on the manufacturing-experiment-analysis technical route, the failure mode of the additive manufactured aluminum multi-layer alloy lattice sandwich structure under quasi-static compression is systematically studied in this paper. Through the combination of experimental observation and finite element analysis, the complex failure mechanism of the multi-layer lattice sandwich structure is revealed. The results show that the multi-layer lattice sandwich structure under quasi-static compression conditions mainly manifests as a layer-by-layer failure mode of the internal lattice structure, which includes the yield, plastic buckling and material damage. At the same time, in comparison with the force–displacement curve and the structural deformation in the key locations, the analysis accuracy of the finite element model can be verified by the compression experiment. Based on the verified finite element model, the most significant influence of different face panel thicknesses, as well the rod radiuses and tilting angles on the energy absorption (EA) is identified via sensitivity analysis. Furthermore, size factors on the structural EA are revealed. This study can provide a helpful guidance for the design of multi-layer lattice sandwich structures in practical applications.

Structural vibration absorption in multilayered sandwich structures using negative stiffness nonlinear oscillators

We hereby report on the incorporation of negative stiffness oscillators realized through Euler buckled beams within vibrating multilayered sandwich structures. Such devices have been extensively investigated as single degree of freedom isolation mechanisms when mechanical grounding is available. It is worth exploring the influences of implementing such mechanisms within continuous multilayered vibrating structures given their interesting nonlinear vibration isolation characteristics. A numerical investigation is presented in this work with the computed performance being compared against the one of linear oscillators of equal mass and damping properties. Despite the fact that the negative stiffness nonlinear (NSN) oscillators were not properly optimized for the specific application due to the implied computational cost, they exhibited superior performance to their linear counterparts in a broadband sense. Considering the dependence of the linear resonators’ performance to manufacturing precision and narrowband excitation, the NSN concept is an excellent candidate for attenuating structural vibration across a wide spectrum.

Buckling of sandwich struts with a particular application in composite multi-layer glazing

Sandwich-like structures can significantly reduce the self-weight and size of load-bearing elements. However determining the flexural response of multi-layered sandwich structures is not a trivial task, particularly their buckling response. This study consists of novel theoretical work for extending Allen’s and Southwell’s buckling theories in order to develop a comprehensive model for the buckling response of multi-layered composite sandwich struts. The new model is applied here to predict the buckling of composite glazing, made of glass face-sheets separated by and adhesively-bonded to inner core profiles, thereby reducing the weight and thickness of conventional glazing panels. Existing physical test data on composite glazing is currently limited to flexural responses under out-of-plane loading and no published data exists for in-plane loading. Therefore three composite glazing struts were fabricated and tested in axial compression in this study, and the test data is used to validate the new model. As expected, failure of the composite glazing struts originated at regions of high shear stress close to end supports. It was found that the critical buckling loads predicted by the new analytical model are within 4% of those obtained from Southwell plots of the experimental data. Similarly, the new model provides a very good fit to the load–deflection and the load-stress responses from the experiments. This is a significant improvement on traditional Euler-based layered or monolithic models that, for this particular application, produce an underestimation of 90% and an overestimation of 40% of the critical buckling loads, respectively, and would therefore result in uneconomic or unsafe designs, respectively.

A smoothed iFEM approach for efficient shape-sensing applications: Numerical and experimental validation on composite structures

A smoothed inverse finite element method (iFEM(s)) is developed by coupling the inverse finite element method (iFEM) and the smoothing element analysis (SEA) for real-time reconstruction of displacement field utilizing a network of discrete strain-sensor measurements. This reconstruction is commonly referred to as “shape sensing”. The shape-sensing capabilities of iFEM(s) in multilayered composite and sandwich structures are validated using both numerical and experimental strain data. The iFEM(s) approach first recovers continuous (smoothed, full field) strains from discrete strain measurements and subsequently employs these strains in the least-squares variational principle to obtain the deformed structural shape. To model through-the-thickness displacement distributions accurately, the kinematic relations of the refined zigzag theory (RZT) are incorporated into the mathematical formulation of iFEM(s). The least-squares functional accommodates the membrane, bending, zigzag, and full transverse-shear section strains. Moreover, simplified forms of this functional are derived for both woven composite and sandwich structures. Subsequently, a four-node quadrilateral inverse-plate element, iRZT4, is implemented for discretization of the geometry and approximation of kinematic variables. The high accuracy of present computational framework is successfully demonstrated by performing shape- and stress-sensing analyses using numerical strain data. Then, the predictive capabilities of iFEM(s) are also explored on a twill-woven wing-shaped sandwich laminate using experimental strain measurements from surface mounted strain gauges and embedded fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors. Finally, the improved shape-sensing predictions of iFEM(s) for both numerical and experimental cases are compared to the conventional iFEM application.