Strength and stiffness optimization studies on honeycomb core sandwich panels

The optimization of strength and stiffness properties of sandwich panels is a critical area of study in the effective design of sandwich panels in view of their potentialities in weight critical applications. G. R. Froud in his article aptly named 'Your sandwich order, Sir' (Froud, G. R. (1980). Your Sandwich Order, Sir, Composites, 133-138), shows theoretically how a sandwich construction can be optimally designed for a stiffness or a strength criterion. This article has triggered the interest and has prompted the authors, to carry out experimental studies, to verify the applicability of this theory to sandwich panel specimens made out of glass/epoxy skins with honeycomb core. The optimum core to skin weight ratios for maximum stiffness and strength of the sandwich panels are experimentally found to be 2.04 and 0.96 as against the theoretical values of 2.0 and 1.0. © 2006 SAGE Publications