Thick Sandwich Panels Research Articles

A Vibration Analysis of a Thick Micro Sandwich Panel with Metamaterial or Porous Core and Carbon Nanotubes/Graphene Platelets Reinforced Composite Based on HSDT and NSGT

A Vibration Analysis of a Thick Micro Sandwich Panel with Metamaterial or Porous Core and Carbon Nanotubes/Graphene Platelets Reinforced Composite Based on HSDT and NSGT

Load bearing investigations on novel Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene‐carbon quantum dots 3D printed core/bamboo fiber polyester sandwich composite for structural applications

AbstractIn this research, a novel 3D printed core and natural fiber polyester composite skin based thick sandwich panel was developed as structural material for domestic and commercial infrastructure applications. The main objective of this research was to analyze how the carbon quantum dots (C‐dots) from agriculture waste strengthen the softer thermoplastic acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) core and overall sandwich panel's load bearing properties. The core of sandwich was prepared using additive manufacturing method whereas the skin was developed by hand layup method. According to the results the C‐dots of 20 phr into the ABS improved the compression properties of core in both flatwise and edgewise directions. A highest tensile and flexural strength of skin was observed to be 114 and 146 MPa respectively. The addition of C‐dots improved the load bearing effect and also restricts the deformation against load. This performance improved novel 3D printed core and bamboo fiber skin sandwich could be used as an alternative construction and building material where the commercial plywood and other forms of powder wood face damages via weather and termite issues.Highlights Higher filler volume of up to 20 phr of carbon quantum dots in acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) were developed Novel 3D printed thin walled core of 1 mm diameter was developed using carbon quantum dots and ABS. Bamboo fiber‐polyester skin with highest tensile strength of 114 MPa was developed. Improved flatwise compression and tensile strength were achieved for ABS core with 20 phr of Carbon quantum dots Flexural strength and edgewise compression properties were improved with 20 phr of Carbon quantum dots in ABS

Layerwise models for supersonic flutter analysis of viscoelastic sandwich panels with curvilinear fibre composite skins

In this work, an assessment of layerwise finite element models for supersonic flutter analysis of soft core viscoelastic sandwich panels is presented, making use of various kinematic descriptions involving shear deformation theories and Lagrange z-expansions with thickness stretching, progressively refined to render numerically accurate and computationally efficient solutions. Numerical applications of sandwich panels include either viscoelastic or purely elastic core with skins of metal or laminated composite, using unidirectional or curvilinear fibres, considering thin and moderately thick panels, with core thickness ratios ranging from narrow to wide cores. A comprehensive assessment of the models predictive capabilities in free vibration analysis is carried out by comparison with three-dimensional exact solutions and numerical methods available in the literature. Even though it is concluded that layerwise first-order modelling, with no thickness stretching, ensures a fair compromise between numerical accuracy and computational efficiency in the aeroelastic flutter analysis of thin sandwich panels, layerwise high-order theories accounting for thickness stretching are rather necessary for the proper modelling of moderately thick sandwich panels, with either viscoelastic or purely elastic core.

Vibrational behavior of a 3D printed biomimetic dual‐core composite sandwich beam: An experimental and numerical study

AbstractComposite sandwich structures have been used in various applications like aerospace, automotive, and maritime sectors. The process of identifying the core design and the selection of a prominent core is crucially important in sandwich structures. In this study, biomimetic core development and vibration responses of composite sandwich beams with a dual biomimetic honeycomb core are investigated. The composite face layers are fabricated by the hand lay‐up method, and the fused deposition modeling is used to 3D print the PLA honeycomb cores. Based on ASTM‐E1876 and the alternative dynamic approach, the face layer elastic properties and rigidity modulus of the cores are evaluated, respectively. The numerical simulation is used to predict the sandwich panels' natural frequencies and mode shapes and verified with experimental results. There was an excellent agreement between the calculated and experimental natural frequencies. Due to the presence of the core and enhanced rigidity modulus, the dual lamellar honeycomb core sandwich beam produces the highest natural frequencies among all‐composite sandwich beams, followed by the dual regular honeycomb, single lamellar honeycomb, and single regular honeycomb cores. The geometric parametric studies, including core thickness, length‐to‐breadth ratio, lamination schemes, support conditions, and transverse vibration responses were also analyzed for different sandwich patterns. As a result of this work, thick composite sandwich panels in aeronautical and marine structures can be replaced with dual biomimetic core structures. The study highlights the fact that the dual‐core sandwich beam provided greater modal frequency than the single‐core beam with the same weight proportions.Highlights Pistachio nut shell‐based biomimetic honeycomb core has been developed. Alternative dynamic approach is used to find sandwich‐core shear properties. Lamellar‐infused biomimetic model yields higher shear modulus and stiffness. Dual‐core beam having high flexural stiffness enhances the natural frequency. Various parametric studies were analyzed for different sandwich patterns.

Experimental verification of FRP bridge deck's monitoring system based on DFOS sensors

AbstractThe paper presents the smart FRP composite bridge panel called „OptiDeck“ with integrated distributed fibre optic sensors (DFOS), to monitor the panel's behavior. The panel is intended for use in newly build and refurbished road bridges. From structure point of view the uniqueness of the presented solution results from innovative technological production process to create a honeycomb core in thick sandwich panel. In order for the monitoring system to cover the entire surface of the panel and to detect local damage, it was necessary to use a modern solution based on geometrically continuous DFOS system. The DFOS system serves as the structure health monitoring (SHM) system, which has been tested during the production and laboratory testing of a prototypes in natural scale. The advantages of DFOS measurements are well known and applied in many civil engineering applications. However, the potential benefits are still not fully utilized. Finally the experimental verification of the DFOS system integrated with the FRP deck panel is presented.

Experimental characterization of impact damage in foam-core sandwich structures using acoustic emission, optical scanning and X-ray computed tomography techniques

Sandwich structures used in transportation and energy industries are commonly subjected to low-velocity impact in the course of manufacturing, service and maintenance, which can lead to the premature degradation of structural stiffness and strength. A single non-destructive evaluation technique is often difficult to provide a comprehensive assessment on impact damage from online to offline and from visible to invisible. In the present study, acoustic emission (AE), three-dimensional (3D) optical scanning and X-ray computed tomography (CT) techniques are combined to provide a systematic approach for damage characterization of thick foam-core sandwich panels under low-velocity impact. In the tests, the mechanical responses such as force-time and force-displacement curves are obtained from the testing system. The AE technique is adopted to monitor damage initiation and evolution in situ; optical scanning and X-ray computed tomography techniques are used for off-line damage identification and quantification. The results show that the AE signal waveform stream, cumulative counts and cumulative energy correlate well with the mechanical responses of the sandwich panel under the low-velocity impact, enabling capture of valuable information for online damage monitoring. Unlike general cases, the AE signals generated from low-velocity impact are found to be presented in strong bursts of nearly coincident events in the short duration. Therefore, the distributions of AE amplitude and peak frequency between adjacent AE counts are extracted to study the different damage modes and damage mechanisms. The X-ray computed tomography images enable to precisely visualize the fracture behaviors of the PET foam-core inside the sandwich panel in a nondestructive fashion, which evidently supports the AE and optical scanning results. The study is anticipated to demonstrate effectiveness and capability of the proposed experimental methodology for damage detection and characterization on sandwiched composite structures subjected to impact loading.

Dynamic response of honeycomb cored sandwich panels under high velocity impact: A numerical study

To investigate the impact resisting behavior of honeycomb cored sandwich panel under the bullet attacks, birds and debris, computational analysis of ballistic impact tests have been performed. The honeycomb sandwich panel with SS 316L front and back sheets are used owing to its better impact resistance, high ductility and superior strength for impact resisting applications. The Ballistic test simulations under a wide range of 150 to 800 m/s have been carried out on a SS 316L sandwich panel embedded with Aluminum alloy (AA 3003) honeycomb core using ABAQUS/Explicit software. For this, 12 mm thick sandwich panel and three types of bullet profiles namely conical, hemispherical and blunt are considered. The initial and residual velocity obtained from the simulation is used for computing the dynamic energy absorption of the panels. The significance of projectile velocity, nose shape on overall energy absorption capacity of the panel have been thoroughly investigated. The sandwich panel reportedly absorbed 20.6% and 41.2% higher energy when impacted with blunt projectile than those impacted with hemispherical and conical bullets. Moreover, an almost linear increase in the overall energy absorption capacity of the panel have been observed by increasing the striking sheet thickness.

A hybrid CPU–GPU solver based on three-dimensional spectral Chebyshev technique for determining the dynamic behavior of thick sandwich panels

In this study, static and vibration behavior of a curved thick sandwich-structured composite composed of a honeycomb core layer and two face-sheets reinforced with carbon nanotubes is investigated. The governing equations are derived using three-dimensional elasticity equations and Hamilton’s principle. The problem domain is discretized following Gauss–Lobatto sampling approach. To numerically solve the governing equations, a spectral method based on Chebyshev polynomials is used and a CPU–GPU based hybrid solver is developed. The presented approach is validated by comparing the predicted natural frequencies and deformation of the structure to those obtained from finite element analysis. The results show that in-house CPU–GPU based spectral solution approach decreases the computational duration remarkably and predicts the dynamic and static behavior of the system accurately. Since composite materials offer great flexibility in tailoring the dynamic behavior of the structure, an optimization study is also performed to benefit from the developed computationally efficient solver. In this study, the CNT orientations are selected as design variables to maximize the fundamental frequency of the structure. Based on the analyzed cases for different thickness ratios, curvature amounts, volume content, and distributions of CNTs, it is shown that the vibration behavior of the structure can be significantly tailored.

Non-linear Free Vibration Analysis of a Thick Sandwich Panel with an Electrorheological Core

Non-linear Free Vibration Analysis of a Thick Sandwich Panel with an Electrorheological Core

Improved High-order Analysis of Linear Vibrations of a Thick Sandwich Panel With an Electro-rheological Core by Using Exponential Shear Deformation Theory

In In this paper, the behavior of free vibrations of the thick sandwich panel with multi-layer face sheets and an electrorheological (ER) fluid core using Exponential Shear Deformation Theory were investigated. For the first time, Exponential shear deformation theory is used for the face sheets while the Displacement field based on the second Frostig's model is used for the core. The governing equations and the boundary conditions are derived by Hamilton’s principle. Closed form solution is achieved using the Navier method and solving the eigenvalues. Primary attention is focused on the effects of electric field magnitude, geometric aspect ratio,and ER core layer thickness on the dynamic characteristics of the sandwich plate. The rheological property of an ER material, such as viscosity, plasticity, and elasticity may be changed when applying an electric field. When an electric field is applied, the damping of the system is more effective. The effects of the natural frequencies and loss factors on the dynamic behaviorof the sandwich plate are studied.the natural frequency of the sandwich plate increases and the modal loss factor decreases. With increasing the thickness of the ER layer, the natural frequencies of the sandwich plate are decreased.

Composite behaviour of wide sandwich panels with thin high performance recycled aggregate concrete wythes with fibre reinforced polymer shear connectors

ABSTRACT The traditional means of using precast concrete sandwich panels are restrictive in terms of applications, where thick wythes result in heavy panels which are often unsuitable in retrofitting domestic and commercial buildings. As concrete sandwich panel technology has evolved to make it more widely accessible, recent research work has demonstrated that it is possible to achieve thermally efficient partial composite action within a thin wythe panel provided non-conductive shear connectors are used. This paper examines high performance recycled aggregate concrete in heavily insulated non-load-bearing panels for retrofitting domestic and commercial buildings. A series of concrete mixes were tested to develop one which would be more sustainable than the widely accepted standard mixes for wythes. Different 220 mm thick concrete sandwich panels were tested consisting of 20 mm thick fibre-reinforced recycled aggregate concrete wythes and a 180 mm layer of XPS insulation. Unconnected and shear connected panels were tested in flexure in a displacement control test. The effects of composite action and post-cracking toughness were examined and it was concluded that a shear connected panel comprising sustainable thin recycled aggregate concrete wythes enclosing a thick layer of insulation is a feasible product to use for light high-performance sandwich panels.

Numerical investigating of the effect material and geometrical parameters on the static behavior of sandwich plate

Studying the behavior of sandwich panels is very important due to their widespread use in different industries. Therefore, over the past decades, various theories have been proposed to study the behavior of these panels. In this paper a higher order global-local theory with 3D equilibrium-based corrections is presented to study behavior of thick and thin sandwich plate with flexible and auxetic core. In addition to correcting the results with 3D elasticity equations, another important advantage of the presented theory is the ability to consider the transverse core deformation of the sandwich panels. It should be mentioned that to study the behavior of thick sandwich panels, especially with soft core, the existence of this feature is very necessary and has a great effect on the accuracy of the obtained results. Comparison of the obtained results with those existing in valid references showed that the formulation of the provided finite element had a very good accuracy even for thick and thin sandwich plates. Finally, the effect of different material and geometrical parameters on the behavior of sandwich plates are carefully investigated using the presented theory.

Impact analysis of Thick Cylindrical Sandwich Panels with Foam Core Subjected to Single and Multi-mass Impacts

This paper aims to study the impact analysis of a composite sandwich panel with a flexible foam core subjected to low-velocity impact loading by using a Finite element (FE) model in ABAQUS/CAE software. Impact damage remains a major concern for all structural components; that create internal damage and reduced the structural strength of the structure. Very few multiple-mass impact studies have been done on the composite sandwich panel. In the present work, the formulation was based on first-order shear deformation theory is used to develop the model. Impacts were done over the top of the face sheet with different velocities and impact masses. The numerical model is verified by the literature experimental one. Good agreements in terms of contact-force histories and deformation of the sandwich panel. Once results are validated for a single impact, furthermore, the study has extended to multi-mass impact analysis with varying velocities of the impactor. Comparison of various parameters such as contact force, deformation, and Von-Mises stress results are reported. Comparisons of responses are shown for cylindrical sandwich panel with flexible core were studied and reported.

Thermal investigation of thin precast concrete sandwich panels

Thin, lightweight alternatives to standard precast concrete sandwich panels have received much research and design focus in recent years. Some designs have been structurally tested and validated. Much less focus has, however, been given to their thermal performance. This study thermally investigates thin, lightweight precast concrete sandwich cladding panels that embed high performance insulation between two thin concrete wythes. A sample thin design is experimentally tested using a hot plate apparatus to evaluate its thermal performance. Finite element modelling is then used to further investigate the common features of thin panel designs and potential areas of heat loss. The analysed representative thin sample sandwich panel (150 mm thick) achieves an average U-value of 0.324 W m−2 K−1; this is 16% lower than that of a typical 315 mm thick sandwich panel with 100 mm of polystyrene foam insulation. Thermal bridging is identified as a major source of heat loss in the thin wall design, accounting for up to 71% of the total thermal transmittance of the tested thin sandwich panel. In standard walls this is usually less than 20%. Some of the features of the tested design can be improved to significantly reduce the effect of the thermal bridging and reduce the U-value by 59% to 0.13 W m−2 K−1 in an optimised panel design.

Simulating the sound transmission loss of complex curved panels with attached noise control materials using periodic cell wavemodes

The sound transmission loss of complex curved aircraft panels under diffuse acoustic field excitation is experimentally and numerically studied. Two different aircraft sidewall panels are considered: a thick composite sandwich panel and a thin aluminium panel with stiffening elements (stringers and frames). Both bare configuration and with attached soundproofing material are tested in laboratory conditions in coupled rooms. The numerical approach relies on a wave finite element method including modal order reduction at cell scale and an extension based on the transfer matrix method, for the inclusion of poroelastic treatments. The results obtained show that the proposed numerical scheme is efficient for predicting the sound transmission loss of such complex structures.

Modeling springback of thick sandwich panel using RSM

The current paper attempts to develop a mathematical model to predict springback of thick sandwich panel made of steel/polyurethane (PUR)/steel in air bending process. Firstly, the behavior laws of sandwich panel components were experimentally obtained. Secondly, numerical simulations of the sandwich panel were conducted in bending process followed by springback for various process parameters. We found that the predicted springback agrees with experiment. Thirdly, three factors with three levels were considered in order to obtain a mathematical model to predict springback by using response surface method (RSM). Punch radius, die opening, and foam thickness are chosen as the main input parameters. The springback is considered as the output response. A relationship between the different factors and the response was obtained, and regression analysis has been done. The obtained results were analyzed with analysis of variance (ANOVA) in order to identify the factors’ importance on the response.

Simplified springback prediction of thick sandwich panel

Springback is one of the most important design behavior in air-bending processes. The sandwich panel exhibits more complicated bending and springback behavior due to substantial differences in mechanical properties between the foam core and the metallic skin sheet. In this paper, we will not only propose a semi-analytical model in order to easily predict springback in air-bending process of steel/polyurethane/steel sandwich panel, but also we will carry out experiments to measure springback amount. The semi-analytical model results and the experiment findings proved to be in a good agreement. In addition, numerical simulations and experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of punch radius, die opening, and the foam thickness on springback.

Conversion of a Temporary Tent with Steel Frame into a Permanent Warehouse

The paper is dealing with the problem of a functional conversion (involving both architectural and structural issues) applied to the case of an industrial building. As well known, temporary tents, designed according to the European Code EN13782, represent a remarkable stake on the building market and a fast and practical solution for some situations. It is exactly the case approached by the paper, where the investor has initially decided to erect on his platform a provisional shelter for agricultural machines and subsequent staff, built of a light steel structure covered by PVC roofing and cladding. This temporary tent has been acquired from a specialized supplier in form of a series product. After using the tent for a number of years, the investor has decided to convert the existing structure from architectural and structural point of view by switching to a permanent structure designed accordingly. Important changes were thus imposed both to the architectural part (technological flows, openings, facades) and especially to the structural part where this switch imposed a re-design to the codes of permanent structures (especially as far as climatic loadings are concerned). The required architectural change implied the building of a 70 cm high concrete plinth and replacing the PVC membrane temporary roofing and cladding by permanent 60 mm thick PUR sandwich panels. Together with a new system of openings this has led to renewed facades of the buildings. As for the structural change, the required conversion has imposed a thorough checking of the existing steel structure (very slender and typical to a tent) in view of transforming it into a permanent structure. The consolidation measures of the existing galvanized steel structure are described, together with the measures applied at infrastructure level in order to implement the required conversion.

A modified state space differential quadrature method for free vibration analysis of soft-core sandwich panels

Modifications and improvements to conventional state space differential quadrature method are proposed for free vibration analysis of thick, soft-core sandwich panels with arbitrary edge boundary conditions, using an exact two-dimensional elasticity model. The modifications are based on a systematic procedure to implement all possible combinations of edge boundary conditions including simply supported, clamped, free and guided edges. Natural frequencies and mode shapes are obtained and compared with exact elasticity solutions from state space method and approximate solution from finite element simulations; demonstrating the high numerical accuracy and rapid convergence of the modified method. Further, the proposed framework is compared to the conventional implementation of the state space differential quadrature method for thick cantilever sandwich panels and is shown to give results with better accuracy and faster convergence.

Thermal behaviour of expanded polystyrene based lightweight concrete sandwich panel at various temperatures

Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) based lightweight concrete sandwich panel is a light weight building material that exhibits good thermal properties and is suitable for making thermally insulated building walls. This study contains experimental determination of thermal conductivity, overall heat transfer coefficient and thermal resistance of EPS based lightweight concrete sandwich panels. Resistive heating is used for performing thermal tests. Internal heat transfer is considered during experiment and the results are achieved by steady state heat transfer method. Thermal quality of sandwich panel with varying thicknesses is observed. Experiments are repeated with four types of source temperatures. All the samples are oven dried before taken into experimentation. The thermal results indicated that EPS based lightweight concrete sandwich panel poses overall heat transfer coefficient of 1.75 W/m2K, 2.06 W/m2K, 6.09 W/m2K and 6.54 W/m2K for 90 mm thick sandwich panel at low temperature, ambient temperature, high temperature and extreme temperature respectively.