Effect of temperature on the compressive behavior of carbon fiber composite pyramidal truss cores sandwich panels with reinforced frames

• Pyramidal panels are fabricated by the water jet cut and interlocking method.
• Good agreement is found between predictions and measurements.
• Results show that the increase of temperature decreases the stiffness and strength.
• The failure modes of sandwich panel under different temperatures are different.

This paper focuses on the effect of temperature on the out-of-plane compressive properties and failure mechanism of carbon fiber/epoxy composite pyramidal truss cores sandwich panels (CF/CPTSP). CF/CPTSP with novel reinforced frames are manufactured by the water jet cutting and interlocking assembly method in this paper. The theoretical analysis is presented to predict the out-of-plane compressive stiffness and strength of CF/CPTSP at different ambient temperatures. The tests of composite sandwich panels are performed throughout the temperature range from −90∘C to 180∘C. Good agreement is found between theoretical predictions and experimental measurements. Experimental results indicate that the low temperature increases the compressive stiffness and strength of CF/CPTSP. However, the high temperature causes the degradation of the compressive stiffness and strength. Meanwhile, the effects of temperature on the failure mode of composite sandwich panels are also observed.