Properties Of Sandwich Composites Research Articles

Development of a novel sandwich-structured composite from biopolymers and cellulose microfibers for building envelope applications

A novel sandwich-structured composite was developed from the surface layers of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) and the interlayer of polylactic acid (PLA)/cellulose microfibers (CMF) composite. Moreover, CMF was chemically modified via a sol–gel process to improve the compatibility between the natural reinforcement and the polymer matrix. According to the obtained results, the modified CMF exhibited a highly hydrophobic characteristic (contact angel value of approximately 118°), and they were homogeneously dispersed in the PLA matrix. The results of the thermogravimetric analysis indicated that the sandwich composites reinforced with the modified CMF showed improvement in thermal stability. Regarding the mechanical properties, the incorporation of the natural reinforcement into sandwich composites increased the values of tensile modulus and strength of materials. The water vapor permeability of sandwich composites increased with the addition of untreated fibers; however, the composites reinforced with the modified CMF showed superior barrier performance than that of untreated CMF. In addition, a durability test was performed to determine the effect of accelerated aging on the properties of sandwich composites. The results demonstrated that the mechanical and barrier properties of composites incorporated with untreated CMF decreased after the accelerated aging, whereas the composites reinforced with the modified CMF experienced the least change.

Analysis on fracture behaviour of stitched foam sandwich composites using interlaminar tension test

Sandwich composites are susceptible to interfacial delamination, owing to the mismatches in the material properties between the face sheets and core. Previous studies have shown that stitching can improve the performance of sandwich composites. In this study, an analysis approach was developed to investigate the fracture behaviour of stitched foam sandwich composites. The stitched foam sandwich composites were manufactured by a vacuum-assisted resin transfer moulding process. Interlaminar tension tests revealed the effects of the linear thread density on the failure mechanisms of the stitched foam sandwich composites. Asymmetric double cantilever beam tests were performed to investigate the influences of the stitch thread reinforcement on the fracture behaviour. An analytical approach combining extended finite element method and nonlinear spring elements was proposed to predict the failure behaviour of the stitched sandwich composites. Experiment and simulation approaches were employed to investigate the influences of the stitch parameters (stitch pitch and linear thread density) on the ultimate load and energy absorption. The results show that stitched method can significantly enhance the mechanical properties of sandwich composites. The energy absorption and ultimate load values of the specimens tend to increase with an increase in the linear thread density or a decrease in the stitch pitch.

Structural model for prediction of thermo-mechanical properties of fabric sandwich composites

An applied prediction code has been developed to calculate the thermo-mechanical properties of sandwich composites utilizing common fabric configurations. A well-established unit-cell approach was employed to model the fabric layer geometry. Effective elastic properties were determined using Hashin's cylinder model, together with common coordinate transformations and volumetric averaging methods. Two-dimensional laminate theory was applied to calculate the mechanical properties of the resulting composite structure, with the code allowing for variable width and thickness geometry in the final part. A simple validation has been undertaken for three different composite samples to confirm the accuracy of the developed prediction model.

Characterisation of Composite Material Properties by an Inverse Technique

An inverse technique based on vibration tests to characterise isotropic, orthotropic and viscoelastic material properties of advanced composites is developed. An optimisation using the planning of experiments and response surface technique to minimise the error functional is applied to decrease considerably computational expenses. The inverse technique developed is tested on aluminium plates and applied to characterise orthotropic material properties of laminated composites and viscoelastic core material properties of sandwich composites.