Indentation study of Z-pin reinforced polymer foam core sandwich structures

Z-pin reinforced foam core sandwich panels with composite face sheets, supported on a rigid base and subjected to quasi-static indentation using spherical indenter was studied in this paper. The effects of configurations of Z-pin, including inclination angle and pinning density, on the load–indentation response were studied, and the resulting damage modes were investigated. The effect of inclination angle of pin on the load–indentation behavior is not notable compared with those of Z-pinning density and Z-pin configuration. The collapse of Z-pinned foam core is due to the buckling of pin, and the pin buckling is significantly dependent on the location of indenter. An approximate solution was developed based on the principle of minimum potential energy to simulate the indentation damage response of Z-pin reinforced foam core sandwich. The analytical predictions compare well with the experimental results.