Flexural testing of sandwich laminates for steel-composite joints

The material properties of four laminates with different skin/core/production method are compared in order to identify their mechanical properties. In this study, 3-point flexural beam tests following the ASTM standard C393 are carried out on each of the four laminates and the results are compared. The main experimental conclusions were that laminates with thinner skins were susceptible to core crushing and that core properties did not always correspond with published manufacturer's values. To validate a numerical procedure against experimental results an ANSYS FEA study to replicate the experimental results in terms of load-deflection curves and maximum load is carried out.