EFFECT OF NONWOVEN FABRIC TYPE, FACESHEET PLY ANGLE, AND CORE THICKNESS ON DISTORTION OF OUT-OF-AUTOCLAVE FLAT SANDWICH PANELS

摘要

Design of experiment (DOE) was employed to study the effect of nonwoven fabric type, ply angle count, and core thickness on the distortion of out-of autoclave flat sandwich panels made of honeycomb core (HRH-10-1/8-6.0) and carbon-fiber epoxy prepreg facesheets (AR2520 UD prepreg and AR2527 bi-angle NCF prepreg). The DOE factors were nonwoven fabric type (UD vs. NCF), ply angle count (4-angle ply facesheets vs. 2-angle ply facesheets), and core thickness (12.7 mm vs. 38.1 mm). For a full factorial DOE a total of 8 sandwich panels with 8-ply facesheets were cured in an oven using the Manufacturer’s Recommended Cure (MRC) cycle and subsequently, the distortion of the panels was measured with a Romer Arm Coordinate Measurement Machine (CMM). The experimental results indicated that the NCF panels had less distortion than the UD panels. Also, the 4-angle panels had a smaller distortion than the 2-angle panels, and the panels with a thicker core had a smaller distortion than the panels with a thinner core.