Analysis of sandwich structures subjected to bending loads

The aim of the project is to study the structural behavior of honeycomb sandwich structure due to bending loads. This project consists of three main parts; the fabrication of honeycomb sandwich structure, three-point bending test on the fabricated specimens and the use of finite element method to compare and validate the experimental results. Six different types of specimens were made from the combination of two different face sheets (acrylic and polycarbonate) and three different core cell sizes (3mm, 6mm and 13mm) with the Araldite2011 epoxy adhesive. Three-point bending test was performed on them with the Instron5569 Universal Testing Machine. All the specimens failed mainly due to delamination. Results from the experimental tests also showed that polycarbonate face sheet specimens and smaller cell size specimens are able to withstand higher loads before failure. Finite element method, ANSYS version 12, was used to model the three-point experimental test done on the six types of specimens. Detailed modeling process was discussed which included the calculation of equivalent material properties. Results showed that stress level was higher in the mid section of the top and bottom surface. Acrylic face sheet and smaller cell size specimens also displayed greater flexural rigidity.Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering