THE DESIGN OF DOUBLY CURVED SANDWICH PANELS WITH HONEYCOMB-CORES

Conventional sandwich panels that are made from a thick, two-dimensional honeycomb core with laminated outer skins are normally only fabricated as flat panels. Attempts to produce doubly curved panels lead to failure of the core by local buckling of the honeycomb cell walls. It is shown that, by modifying the honeycomb geometry, a range of doubly curved panel cores can be formed that can be either synclastic or anticlastic. Varying the cell geometry produces different combinations of curvature, honeycomb density and mechanical properties. The inter-relationship between these different properties is illustrated. © 1990.