The effect of core architecture on the behaviour of sandwich columns under edgewise compression loading

Sandwich structures are a form of construction that offers high performance and low-weight. This type of construction became popular by the mid of the twenty century where different metallic faces and core materials were used for the construction of aircrafts and marine vessels. The development of high-strength, high-modulus, light-weight fibres and new forms of core materials has opened a new horizon for sandwich structures. Using sandwich structures for columns was investigated by different researchers. However, none of the located literature reported using strong-weak core (mixed-core) materials in sandwich columns. To investigate the effect of using mixed-core on the column behaviour was investigated by testing five sets of prototype columns under edgewise compression. The column cores were made of PVC low-density foam, end-grain balsa wood or a combination of both materials. The column skins were laminated by using glass/epoxy composites. The test results showed that the mixed-core can lead to having a failure mode that has not been reported previously. This paper presents the experimental work conducted in testing these columns. It highlights the effect of core structure on the failure mode and capacity of the sandwich columns