MECHANICAL BUCKLING BEHAVIOR OF COMPOSITE SANDWICHE PANELS WITH HYBRID GLASS/CARBON FACE SHEETS

The buckling behaviour of six different sandwich panels made from 2:2 hybrid (glass/carbon) fibres face sheets have been investigated experimentally against two baseline sandwich panels made by all glass and all carbon face... [ view full abstract ]

The buckling behaviour of six different sandwich panels made from 2:2 hybrid (glass/carbon) fibres face sheets have been investigated experimentally against two baseline sandwich panels made by all glass and all carbon face sheets. All sandwich panels were fabricated by Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding process (VARTM) and cut into 51 mm x 406 mm (2 in. x 16 in.) specimens. The out-of-plane deflection of each specimen was measured by back-to-back reflex non-contact laser sensors to capture both negative and positive deflections for both specimens’ sides. Experimental results showed positive hybridization effects observed in the hybrid specimen with an alternating order of glass and carbon lay-up in delaying the critical buckling load by 11.4% to 18.3%. Moreover, a 2-D non-linear numerical model was constructed to simulate the buckling test and its values agreed with the experimental results by a difference of 2% to 11%.