Design and manufacture of all-PP sandwich panels based on co-extruded polypropylene tapes

This paper describes the creation of polypropylene sandwich panels, based on all-polypropylene (all-PP) composite laminates combined with a polypropylene based honeycomb or foam core. These all-PP composite laminates are based on high modulus polypropylene tape reinforcing a polypropylene matrix. Sandwich panels containing these all-PP composite laminate faces are compared with sandwich panels containing conventional glass fibre reinforced polypropylene laminate faces, and the mechanical properties, failure modes, and design requirements of these different materials are discussed.