Material characteristics of 3-D FRP sandwich panels

This paper presents an innovative 3-D fiber reinforced polymer (FRP), panels designed to overcome delamination problems typically encountered in traditional sandwich panels. The sandwich panels consist of GFRP laminates and foam core. The top and bottom consist of GFRP plates connected together with through-thickness fibers to achieve the composite action. The fundamental material characteristics of the panel in tension, compression, flexure and shear are critical for the use and structural design of these panels. This paper summarizes the findings of an extensive experimental program to determine the various parameters believed to affect the material characteristics of these sandwich panels. The influence of the panel thickness, through-thickness fiber configuration and density, and other parameters on the tension, compression, flexure and shear behavior of the panels are discussed.