Experimental study of impact properties of aluminium honeycomb sandwich structure

Abstract

Aircraft grade of structural sandwich plates has been studied to determine the influence rate of particular face sheets adjustments on impact energy absorption. The face sheets were fabricated by carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminas using unidirectional reinforcement with either cross-ply [0/90]n or angle-ply [±45]n orientation of fibres. A core of the sandwich plates was then formed by aluminium honeycomb. The impact properties of small unnotched sandwich specimens were measured by instrumented Charpy impact test device. Assessment of force-displacement curve, loading process and failure mode was carried out for each specimen type to determine a general trend for increasing the impact properties of sandwich structures.