Effect of adhesive joining on the bending response of alporas foam core sandwich beams

Cellular solids either in regular lattice or irregular structures such as foams are widely used in light weight transport vehicles, high specific stiff and strength structural designs. These materials compressive response is exploited for designing energy management devices such as helmets, automotive bumpers and blast resistance panels. Good combined properties of high strength, excellent energy absorption and also light weight can be achieved by joining cellular materials with strong and stiff materials to form sandwich panels. Cellular structures can fail in several competing modes based on their constituent material properties and geometries. In this project, initially aluminum foam core (trade-name ALPORAS) and aluminum faces heet are tested under uniaxial compression and tension, respectively to measure their mechanical properties. Using aerospace grade adhesive Redux 322, the foam core is bonded to the aluminum facesheet and tested in four point bending. The load – displacement response and failure mode such as core indentation, core shear and face sheet yield obtained. Then, the effect of adhesively joined core on the four point response is measured and compared with the monolithic core.Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering