Deformation and failure of hybrid composite sandwich beams with a metal foam core under quasi-static load and low-velocity impact. (15th June 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhang, Wei; Qin, Qinghua; Li, Jianfeng; Li, Kaikai; Poh, L.H.; Li, Yan; Zhang, Jianxun; Xie, Shejuan; Chen, Hongen; Zhao, Jianping
• Is Part Of: Composite structures. Volume 242(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-06-15
• Subjects: Hybrid sandwich beam -- Carbon fiber-reinforced plastic -- Aluminum foam -- Asymmetrical design -- Failure -- Low-velocity impact; Composite construction -- Periodicals; Composites -- Périodiques; 624.18
• DOI: 10.1016/j.compstruct.2020.112175
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0263-8223

Abstract

Abstract: The deformation and failure of hybrid composite sandwich beams with an aluminum foam core under quasi-static load and low-velocity impact are investigated. The sandwich beams comprise of two carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) face sheets which have identical/unidentical thicknesses. The experimental results show that hybrid composite sandwich beams exhibit four active failure modes: face-sheet fracture, indentation, core shear and core shear-tension. Core shear occurs in sandwich beams with two identical face sheets, while core shear-tension develops in sandwich beams with two unidentical face sheets. An asymmetrical sandwich beam with a thicker top face sheet has superior load-carrying capability than those with a thinner top face sheet for the same total thickness of the top and bottom face sheets. For the similar failure modes of hybrid composite sandwich beams under quasi-static load and low-velocity impact, the low-velocity impact collapse load is higher than that corresponding to quasi-static collapse. The collapse loads of hybrid composite sandwich beams predicted by simple theoretical solutions are in good agreement with the experimental values.