DESIGN CRITERIA FOR STRUCTURAL SANDWICH PANELS.

Sandwich panels consisting of two relatively thin metal faces and a foamed plastic core have been finding increasing use as the cladding of buildings. They combine the advantages of strength, stiffness, lightness, and excellent thermal properties, and thus represent the optimum use of the various components of a complex cladding system. Their excellent structural performance depends on the two faces and the core acting together as a composite element, and this raises unique design problems, not all of which may be fully understood by those responsible for their manufacture, design, and use. This paper represents an attempt to summarize the main considerations and includes proposals for rational design procedures.