Instrumented Impact Testing of Composite Sandwich Panels.

摘要

The impact response of various composite sandwich panels has been investigated. These composite sandwich panels, consisting of various fabric facesheet materials and different densities of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) foam cores, demonstrate exceptional low-energy impact resistance. The macroscopic failure modes, microfailure mechanisms, and energy absorbing characteristics of these composite sandwich panels were studied by using instrumented impace test, light microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The impact resistance of composite sandwich panels was found to be mainly controlled by the facesheets and relatively independent of the density of the PVC foam core, provided the facesheet material is tough enough. The impact failure mechanism of sandwich panels containing less tough facesheets was found to change from a facesheet-dominated to foam-core-dominated behavior, when the PVC foam core increased from low-density foam core was about 15%-100% greater than the sum of energies absorbed by its separate constituents. Reprints. (jes)