Global bending response of composite sandwich plates with corrugated core: Part I: Effect of geometric parameters

Global bending response of composite sandwich plates with corrugated core is studied by considering the effects of geometric parameters, such as face thickness, web thickness, web inclination angle, pitch and face center distance. The material in both faces and webs is a carbon fiber reinforced epoxy with a [0/90°]s[0/90°]s laminate construction. The core geometry is varied from triangular to rectangular as the web inclination angle is increased from its minimum value to the maximum value of 90°. In all cases, the cross-sectional area and hence the mass was maintained at a constant value so that direct comparison can be made between the effects of various geometric parameters. The analysis takes into account the effects of transverse shear stiffness components which are shown to have significant influence on the global bending response.