Improving the structural integrity of foam-core sandwich composites using continuous carbon fiber stitching

Changze Sun; Hamda Albustani; Vaibhav A. Phadnis; Mohamed Nasr Saleh; Wesley J. Cantwell; Zhongwei Guan

doi:10.1016/j.compstruct.2023.117509

Improving the structural integrity of foam-core sandwich composites using continuous carbon fiber stitching

Changze Sun, Hamda Albustani, Vaibhav A. Phadnis, Mohamed Nasr Saleh, Wesley J. Cantwell, Zhongwei Guan

Department of Aerospace Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study aims to improve the structural integrity of foam-core sandwich structures by embedding carbon-fiber/epoxy stitched reinforcements with fiber-volume fraction (V_f) as high as 55 %. Sandwich panels with 1.5 mm thick carbon fiber skins and 30 mm thick PVC foam-core were stitched with 0, 12 k and 24 k carbon fiber yarns. X-ray computed tomography (CT) was utilized to determine the “as-manufactured” quality of the stitched panels. Flatwise-, edgewise-compression and 3-point bending tests were conducted with in-situ 3D Digital Image Correlation (DIC) to record the deformation and analyze the structure's mechanical response. It was observed that compared to non-stitched samples - under flatwise compression loading, the reinforced samples with a stitch V_f of 0.34 and 0.55 showed an increase in stiffness and strength by 130 % and 163 %, and 29 % and 53 %, respectively. For edgewise-compression and 3-point bending loading cases, stiffness and strength of stitched samples showed an increase of ∼20 % over the benchmark. Using DIC, X-ray CT and a fractography analysis, the external and internal damage as well as failure mechanisms were evaluated. Analytical solution was employed to understand the parametric influence of the stitch V_f and stitch density per unit area in pursuit of an optimized sandwich structure.

Original language	British English
Article number	117509
Journal	Composite Structures
Volume	324
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2023.117509
State	Published - 15 Nov 2023

Keywords

A) Sandwich structures
C) Damage mechanics
D) CT analysis
E) Stitching

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10.1016/j.compstruct.2023.117509

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title = "Improving the structural integrity of foam-core sandwich composites using continuous carbon fiber stitching",

abstract = "This study aims to improve the structural integrity of foam-core sandwich structures by embedding carbon-fiber/epoxy stitched reinforcements with fiber-volume fraction (Vf) as high as 55 %. Sandwich panels with 1.5 mm thick carbon fiber skins and 30 mm thick PVC foam-core were stitched with 0, 12 k and 24 k carbon fiber yarns. X-ray computed tomography (CT) was utilized to determine the “as-manufactured” quality of the stitched panels. Flatwise-, edgewise-compression and 3-point bending tests were conducted with in-situ 3D Digital Image Correlation (DIC) to record the deformation and analyze the structure's mechanical response. It was observed that compared to non-stitched samples - under flatwise compression loading, the reinforced samples with a stitch Vf of 0.34 and 0.55 showed an increase in stiffness and strength by 130 % and 163 %, and 29 % and 53 %, respectively. For edgewise-compression and 3-point bending loading cases, stiffness and strength of stitched samples showed an increase of ∼20 % over the benchmark. Using DIC, X-ray CT and a fractography analysis, the external and internal damage as well as failure mechanisms were evaluated. Analytical solution was employed to understand the parametric influence of the stitch Vf and stitch density per unit area in pursuit of an optimized sandwich structure.",

keywords = "A) Sandwich structures, C) Damage mechanics, D) CT analysis, E) Stitching",

author = "Changze Sun and Hamda Albustani and Phadnis, {Vaibhav A.} and Saleh, {Mohamed Nasr} and Cantwell, {Wesley J.} and Zhongwei Guan",

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year = "2023",

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doi = "10.1016/j.compstruct.2023.117509",

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AU - Sun, Changze

AU - Albustani, Hamda

AU - Phadnis, Vaibhav A.

AU - Saleh, Mohamed Nasr

AU - Cantwell, Wesley J.

AU - Guan, Zhongwei

PY - 2023/11/15

Y1 - 2023/11/15

N2 - This study aims to improve the structural integrity of foam-core sandwich structures by embedding carbon-fiber/epoxy stitched reinforcements with fiber-volume fraction (Vf) as high as 55 %. Sandwich panels with 1.5 mm thick carbon fiber skins and 30 mm thick PVC foam-core were stitched with 0, 12 k and 24 k carbon fiber yarns. X-ray computed tomography (CT) was utilized to determine the “as-manufactured” quality of the stitched panels. Flatwise-, edgewise-compression and 3-point bending tests were conducted with in-situ 3D Digital Image Correlation (DIC) to record the deformation and analyze the structure's mechanical response. It was observed that compared to non-stitched samples - under flatwise compression loading, the reinforced samples with a stitch Vf of 0.34 and 0.55 showed an increase in stiffness and strength by 130 % and 163 %, and 29 % and 53 %, respectively. For edgewise-compression and 3-point bending loading cases, stiffness and strength of stitched samples showed an increase of ∼20 % over the benchmark. Using DIC, X-ray CT and a fractography analysis, the external and internal damage as well as failure mechanisms were evaluated. Analytical solution was employed to understand the parametric influence of the stitch Vf and stitch density per unit area in pursuit of an optimized sandwich structure.

AB - This study aims to improve the structural integrity of foam-core sandwich structures by embedding carbon-fiber/epoxy stitched reinforcements with fiber-volume fraction (Vf) as high as 55 %. Sandwich panels with 1.5 mm thick carbon fiber skins and 30 mm thick PVC foam-core were stitched with 0, 12 k and 24 k carbon fiber yarns. X-ray computed tomography (CT) was utilized to determine the “as-manufactured” quality of the stitched panels. Flatwise-, edgewise-compression and 3-point bending tests were conducted with in-situ 3D Digital Image Correlation (DIC) to record the deformation and analyze the structure's mechanical response. It was observed that compared to non-stitched samples - under flatwise compression loading, the reinforced samples with a stitch Vf of 0.34 and 0.55 showed an increase in stiffness and strength by 130 % and 163 %, and 29 % and 53 %, respectively. For edgewise-compression and 3-point bending loading cases, stiffness and strength of stitched samples showed an increase of ∼20 % over the benchmark. Using DIC, X-ray CT and a fractography analysis, the external and internal damage as well as failure mechanisms were evaluated. Analytical solution was employed to understand the parametric influence of the stitch Vf and stitch density per unit area in pursuit of an optimized sandwich structure.

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KW - C) Damage mechanics

KW - D) CT analysis

KW - E) Stitching

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Improving the structural integrity of foam-core sandwich composites using continuous carbon fiber stitching

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