Fig 13.13 Critical load in 2 sandivich siuctore Materials wei _ . Face t — é no | a / a i a oA 4 LL id 0 a 3 ae I) ate tne — i langih of the siructure The greatest advantage with sandwich construction compared to solid laminates, is that we ean increase the strength and stiffness without a corresponding increase in the weight. Fig 13.12 shows clearly this advantage. By increasing the total thickness of the panel without increasing the total thickness of the laminates, the stiffness increases seven times for a doubling of the panel’s thickness. By making the panel four times thicker the stiffness goes up 37 times compared to the solid laminate, The strength increases 3.25 and 9.25 times respectively, with the weight more or less equal. The core in this example is a honeycomb, with a foam or especially balsa core the weight would have increased slightly more. The reason for this drastic inerease in strength and stiffness is illustrated in Fig 13.13. The critical load that a structure can withstand, P,,, is proportional to the modulus of elasticity of the composite and the moment of inertia of the cross-section, and inversely proportional to the length squared of the test specimen. Comparing two panels of the same length, L, we see that the only way to increase P.,, is to get a material with a higher E-modulus, E, oF change the section to obtain a higher moment of inertia, I. To increase only the E-modulus by using better materials has its practical limits, not to mention the economical aspects. A betler way is to increase the I- value of the panel, Since the moment of inertia is proportional to the thickness raised to the third power, it is not difficult to increase the stiffness of the panel by making it thicker. But we do not want to increase the weight, and here the ‘sandwich-principle’ comes into play. By dividing the laminate into an outer and an inner face and filling the space in the middle with something that is Hight, but still fulfils its262 Principles of Yacht Design Weak core Fig 13.14 Comparison of Cores that are rigid or weak structural tasks, we will have the increase in total thickness without an ‘excessive increase of weight. The faces carry the tensile and compressive stresses in the sandwich, ‘The local flexutal rigidity of the faces is so small that for all practical Purposes it can be ignored, and therefore laminates specifically designed to carry tensile and/or compression loads can be used. Faces also carry Jocal pressure at fastenings etc, and where these pressures are high the face should be dimensioned for the shear force connected to it, so that ‘we do not punch a hole in the face wien applying the load. The core has several important functions to perform. It has to be still enough to maintsin a constant distance between the faces when the structure is loaded. It must also be so rigid in shear that the faces don't slide over each other. The shear rigidity of the core forces the faces to co-operate with each other. IF the core is weak the faces do not co- operate, and the faces work as plates in bending, independent of each other, Sinve the local flexural rigidity is so small, the sandwich effect is lost and the structure collapses (see Fig 13.14). To keep the faces and the core co-operating with each other, the facercore joints must be able to transfer the shear forzes between the faces and the core, but itis hard to specify numerically the demands on the joints. A simple rule is that the joints should be able to absorb the same shear stresses as the core This basic description of the sandwich principle shows that it is the sandwich structure as a whole that generates the positive effects However, we should meation that the core has to fulfil the most complex demands, Strength in different directions and low density are not the only properties that it must have, but often there are special demands on buckling, insulation, absorption of moisture, fatigue, ageing resistance ete,Materials 263 ‘Wrinkiing Bimeting nace ” Fig 13.15 Sandwich suckling characteristics ‘Typical sandwich buckling (a) General buckling (6) Shear crimping (o) Wrinkling Each part of the sandwich has its specific property. and together they act asa unit, It is important not to break the co-operation between the parts. If for example reinforcing frames are made, they should be made of a material with the same or less strength than the face material, Otherwise ‘most of the stresses will be taken by the frame reinforcement, which itis not designed for. Cracks at attachments often result from a combination, of sandwich structure and frame structure which has not been properly balanced, A good understanding of a sandwich core’s general qualities and the co- operation between faces and core can be obtained by carrying out a panel compression esl. The panels are put into compression perpendicular to their plane, and the bucsling characteristics are then studied. Possible results are depicted in Fig 13.15 as follows: The core and the faces are co-operating well, but the panel is coo slender, so the whole structure bends, If general buckling is feared, we cam use facings with a higher elastic modulus ‘© increase facing thickness © use a core with a higher shear modulus ‘© increase core thickness ‘The faces and the face/core joint are strong enough but the core fails in shear. To inerease the total critical erimping load we can: © increase core thickness ‘© usea core with a higher shear modulus, The facings’ buckling is prevented by the core whicl when the facings264 Principles of Yacht Design are subjected to compression, supports them laterally. If the compression stress on the facings exceeds a certain limit, the core will not be able to prevent their buckling. Io the first case the bonding of the face to the core is not strong enough, in the second case the core is failing in tension while the third case shows 2 core that does not have enough compression strength, If local wrinkling is feared, we can: ‘© we a facing with a higher elastic modulus : © wea core with higher elastic properties. 'd) Dimpling When the core ie made of honeycomb, the bonding between faces and core only takes place at the honeycomb cells’ edges. When the facings are subjected to a compressional Force, they may therefore undergo buckling in the free spaces within the cells. When it is necessary 10 increase the eritical dirapling stress, we can: ‘© wwe a facing with a higher elastic modulus we thicker facings © use a core with smaller size cells, Sandwich bending The normal load conditions for panels in boats are in the bending mode. Fig 13.16 shows the distribution and levels of stresses in a sandwich beam. The index ‘f refers to the faces and ‘c’ to the core in the formulae. As we can see from the figure the faces are considered to Fig 13.16 Steses ina take all normal forees and the core all shear forces. sandwich beam Distrinution of nermal— and ehear—sirasces whan Eo << Ef ond Ht << te The faces’ own moment of Inertia le small and con be ignarad 20: psi boars eer ae ee ines 3 oo ReeMaterials 265 ‘Sandwich in practice Fig 13.17 Demande and ratings of core materials The feces’ own moment of inertia (ly) ate very small and can be ignored. The resulting moment of inertia ({,) gives the total section's ‘moment of inertia: }, = A, + d2 | 2. ie the resulting moment of inertia is proportionally dependent on flange area, or face thickness, and the square of the sandwich thickness. “Thanks to this simplification the normal sess in the faces (@,) can be approximated to: 9; = P / Ap ie the load carrying capability is directly proportional to the flange area, or face thickness, IE the core is too weak 19 contribute significantly to the flexural rigidity of the sandwich, which can be safely assumed in most eases, the shear stress may be regarded constant over the thickness of the core. If, in addition, the flexural rigidities about their own axes are ignored (ly = small), die shear stress (f,) becomes: = Q/ (b *d), ie the shear stress is inversely proportional to the core thickness. ‘The approximations give a total error of 2-3% when the core is at least 5.77 times thicker than each facing and the modulus of elasticity of the faces is much greater than that of the core. So far we have discussed the principles behind sandwich construction, ‘OF a more practical nature is the choive of material, For the facings, since they are only subjected to tension or compression forces, and the thickness in iself is not of great importance. compared to that of a solid panel, it pays to use directional fibres or perhaps exotic cnes in the laminates. “The core is subjected to a lot of, sometimes coniicting, demands. Fig 13.17 shows & table listing different demands versus ratings for some core materials. The ratings are not weighted, so we have to decide the priorities when making « selestion of the core material, The most commonly used core materials in boatbuilding are balsa and linear or cross-linked PVC foam. The best known Inear type is Aires and the