EFFECT OF STATIC AND HARMONIC LOADING ON THE HONEYCOMB SANDWICH BEAM BY USING FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

The aim of this paper is to present a proposed honeycomb core shape and compare it with a normal hexagonal shape core in a sandwich beam. The sandwich cores are simulated in finite element with different materials; aluminum and epoxy-carbon with six layers are used as face sheet and the results are compared to those obtained theoretically. Simulation of 3-point bending test is performed in commercial software ANSYS to verify the analytical results with the numerical ones. Hence, for simplicity one layer of the skin is used on the equivalent model of sandwich for lesser computational time and more accurate evaluation. Simulation of harmonic analysis of hexagonal core and proposed core shape is carried out in frequency domain to identify the core with less deformation under high frequency and it can withstand harmful effects. The proposed core shape model having the same cell numbers and material as the normal hexagonal model is compared with experimental results; it is observed that the proposed core shape model has good flexural stiffness, resonance, fatigue, and stress resistance at a higher frequency

THERMAL BUCKLING AND BENDING ANALYSES OF CARBON FOAM BEAMS SANDWICHED BY COMPOSITE FACES UNDER AXIAL COMPRESSION

The bending and critical buckling loads of a sandwich beam structure subjected to thermal load and axial compression were simulated and temperature distribution across sandwich layers was investigated by finite element analysis and validated analytically. The sandwich structure was consisted of two face sheets and a core, carbon fiber and carbon foam were used as face sheet and core respectively for more efficient stiffness results. The analysis was repeated with different materials to reduce thermal strain and heat flux of sandwich beams. Applying both ends fixed as temperature boundary conditions, temperature induced stresses were observed, steady-state thermal analysis was performed, and conduction through sandwich layers along with their deformation nature were investigated based on the material properties of the combination of face sheets and core. The best material combination was found for the reduction of heat flux and thermal strain, and addition of aerogel material significantly reduced thermal stresses without adding weight to the sandwich structure