Mechanical Performance of GFRP Sandwich Panels with Stiffen Webs

Abstract

This paper presents the details of a research program that was conducted to evaluate the one-way bending behavior of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) sandwich panels. The panels consist of GFRP skins and a foam-GFRP web core. An experimental study was carried out to study the effect of the skin and web thickness, the web height and the web space. The results demonstrate that compared to the only foam-core sandwich panels, a maximum of approximately 230% increase in the ultimate bending strength can be achieved. Meanwhile, the bending stiffness and energy dissipation can be enhanced respectively. On the other hand, an analytical model was built. The finite element analysis, conducted to simulate the bending behavior considering the bond performance of the face sheets and foam core, accurately predicted the ultimate bending strengths and deflections of the panels under four-point bending in comparison with the experimental results.