Bending response of sandwich panels with discontinuous wire-woven metal cores

• Bending response of sandwich panels with discontinuous WBK cores were elaborated.
• Gap between discontinuous WBK cores deteriorated bending properties of sandwich panels.
• Analytic solutions provided good estimations of failure mode, strength and stiffness.

The effects of a gap between discontinuous WBK (Wire-woven Bulk Kagome) cores on the bending properties of mild steel sandwich panels were elaborated. Analytic solutions were derived, and the experimental and numerical results of the bending response of sandwich panels with continuous and discontinuous WBK cores were presented. The analytic solutions of sandwich panels with continuous or discontinuous WBK cores under bending load provided good estimations of the failure mode, peak load, and bending stiffness in comparison with the experimental results. The strength and stiffness of sandwich panels with discontinuous WBK cores under bending load often substantially deteriorated depending on the gap width between the cores and on the detailed geometry near the gap. The analytic solutions successfully explained how the deterioration of the bending strength or stiffness could be minimized, when two separate sandwich panels or cores are to be joined.