Proposal of the concept of splice-type arrester for foam core sandwich panels

A new type of crack arrester concept, named the splice-type crack arrester, was invented and applied to a core–core splice in a foam core sandwich panel in order to suppress interfacial crack growth. An analytical evaluation of this crack arrester including parametric studies was carried out. It was confirmed by finite element (FE) analysis that interfacial crack propagation was suppressed by a decrease in the energy release rate at the crack tip under constant loading owing to the splice-type crack arrester as the crack tip approached the edge of the arrester. Through this study, it was revealed that the leading edge of the splice-type crack arrester, its shape and material, have strong effects on the crack suppression capability.