Mechanical behaviour of cellular core for structural sandwich panels

This paper deals with the analysis of the mechanical properties of the core materials for sandwich panels. In this work, the core is firstly a honeycomb and secondly tubular structure. This kind of core materials are extensively used, notably in automotive construction (structural components, load floors...). For this study, three approaches are developed: a finite element analysis, an analytical study and experimental tests. Structural members made up of two stiffs, strong skins separated by a lightweight core (foam, honeycomb, tube...) are known as sandwich panels. The separation of the skins by the core increases the inertia of the sandwich panel, the flexure and shear stiffness. This increase is obtained with a little increase in weight, producing an efficient structure to resist bending and buckling loads. A new analytical method to analyse sandwich panels core will be presented. These approaches (theoretical and experimental) are used to determine elastic properties and ultimate stress. A parameter study is carried out to determine elastic properties as a function of geometrical and mechanical characteristics of basic material. Both theoretical and experimental results are discussed and a good correlation between them is obtained. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.