Citation:
Baral N, Cartie DDR, Partridge IK, et al., (2010) Improved impact performance of marine sandwich panels using through-thickness reinforcement: Experimental results, Composites Part B: Engineering, Volume 41, Issue 2, March 2010, pp. 117-123
Abstract:
This paper presents results from a test developed to simulate the water impact
(slamming) loading of sandwich boat structures. A weighted elastomer ball is
dropped from increasing heights onto rigidly supported panels until damage is
detected. Results from this test indicate that honeycomb core sandwich panels,
the most widely used material for racing yacht hulls, start to damage due to
core crushing at impact energies around 550 J. Sandwich panels of the same areal
weight and with the same carbon/epoxy facings but using a novel foam core
reinforced in the thickness direction with pultruded carbon fibre pins, do not
show signs of damage until above 1200 J impact energy. This suggests that these
will offer significantly improved resistance to wave impact. Quasi-static test
results cannot be used to predict impact resistance here as the crush strength
of the pinned foam is more sensitive to loading rate than that of the honeycomb
core.
