Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Z-pinned foam core sandwich is a novel structural material. It is produced by reinforcing lightweight foam core with a truss network of pultruded carbon fiber rods and then laminated between composite face sheets. This investigation presents an approach to obtain the equivalent moduli of Z-pin reinforced foam core. The pins are treated as cylinder inclusions in foam at the same time they act as truss core. Based upon the Mori—Tanaka mean-field theory to account for the interaction between the pins and foam, an analytical approach is developed to assess the effective moduli of foam containing randomly oriented pins. Under the concept of space truss frame, a homogenization model is presented to calculate the effective elastic properties of pins truss core. First-order shear theory is developed to simulate the mechanical behaviors of a Z-pin reinforced foam core sandwich. Then, core shear tests were carried out to check the validity of a theoretical model. Furthermore, numerical examples have been given for a carbon fiber pins reinforced Rohacell foam core. Analysis results indicate that the equivalent moduli of reinforced core are strongly affected by the orientation, the volume fraction, and the properties of Z-pins.

Keywords

three-dimensional reinforcement mechanical properties modeling.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Aztex Corporation. X-corTM: High Performance, Damage Tolerant Composite Core Material. The Introduction of X-cor® Production.

Carstensen, T.C. , Kunkel, E. and Magee, C. (2001). X-Cor Advanced Sandwich Core Material. In: 33rd International SAMPE Technical Conference, Seattle, WA, November.

Deshpande, V.S. , Ashby, M.F. and Fleck, N.A. (2001) Foam Topology Bending Versus Stretching Dominated Structures, ActaMater, 49: 1035-1040.

Rice, M.C. , Fleischer, C.A. and Zupan, M. (2006). Study on the Collapse of Pin-Reinforced Foam Sandwich Panel Cores, Experimental Mechanics, 46: 197-204.

O'Brien, K.T. and Paris, I.L. (2002). Exploratory Investigation of Failure Mechanisms in Transition Regions Between Solid Laminates and X-Cor® Truss Sandwich [J], Composite Structures, 57: 189-204.

Cartie', D. and Fleck, N. (2003). The Effect of Pin Reinforcement Upon the Through-Thickness Compressive Strength of Foam-Cored Sandwich Panels [J], Composites Science and Technology, 63: 2401-2409.

Vaidya, U.K. and Nelson, S. (2001). Processing and High Strain Rate Impact Response of Multi-Functional Sandwich Composites [J], Composite Structures , 52: 429-440.

Andrea, I. , Marascoa, Denis, D. R. , Cartié, Ivana K. Partridge and Amir Rezai. (2006). Mechanical Properties Balance in Novel Z-pinned Sandwich Panels: Out-of-Plane Properties , Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 37: 295-302.

Mohr, D. (2005). Mechanism-Based Multi-Surface Plasticity Model for Ideal Truss Lattice Materials, International Journal of Solids and Structures, 42: 3235-3260.

10.

Liu, T. , Deng, Z.C. and Lu , T.J. (2006). Design Optimization of Truss-Cored Sandwiches with Homogenization, International Journal of Solids and Structures, 43: 7891-7918.

11.

Wallach, J.C. and Gibson, L.J. (2001). Mechanical Behavior of a Three-Dimensional Truss Material, International Journal of Solids and Structures, 38: 7181-7196.

12.

Deshpande, V.S. and Fleck, N.A. (2001). Collapse of Truss Core Sandwich Beams in 3-Point Bending, International Journal of Solids and Structures, 38: 6275-6305.

13.

Chao-Hsun Chen and Chiang-Ho Cheng. (1996). Effective Elastic Moduli of Misoriented Short-Fiber Composites, International Journal of Solids and Structures, 33: 2519-2539.

14.

Pettermann, H.E. , Bohm, H.J. and Rammerstorfer , F.G. (1997 ). Some Direction-Dependent Properties of Matrix-Inclusion Type Composites with Given Reinforcement Orientation Distributions, Composites Part B, 28: 253-265.

15.

Tucker III, C.L. and Liang, E. (1999). Stiffness Predictions for Unidirectional Short-Fiber Composites: Review and Evaluation , Composites Science and Technology, 59: 655-671.

16.

Mura, T. (1987). Micromechanics of Defects in Solids, pp. 74-88. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, The Netherlands.

17.

Suquet, P. (1987). Homogenization Techniques for Composite Media. Elements of Homogenization for Inelastic Solid Mechanics, In: Sanchez-Palencia, E. and Zaoui, A. (eds), Lecture Notes in Physics, pp. 193-278, Springer-Verlag , Berlin.

18.

Kollar, L.P. and Springer, G.S. (2003). Mechanics of Composite Structures, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

19.

Degussa Corporation , Main Parameters of Rohacell® foam, The Introduction of Rohacell® Production.

The Elastic Properties of Sandwich Structure with Z-pinned Foam Core

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References