Bending and impacting of sandwich composites with a corrugated paper core layer

The bending and impacting characteristics of sandwich composites containing corrugated paper (CP) as a core layer are discussed herein. The core layer of the sandwich composite was fabricated with CP-reinforced polylactic acid (PLA) resin. The core layer was then stacked with jute fabric and PLA films on the top and bottom surfaces to fabricate the sandwich composites. Two composites [CP-reinforced PLA composite (CP/PLA composite)] and jute fabric/PLA sandwich composite with CP as a core layer [J/PLA/CP composite] were developed in this study. To manufacture the CP/PLA composite core layer, a dipping bath was used for impregnating the paper with a molten PLA solution. The resin film method combined with a hot press was used to produce the jute fabric/PLA/CP sandwich composites. A material test system (MTS810) was used to study the bending properties of the composites. Further, an IZOD impacting instrument was used to examine the impacting characteristics of the composites. Both the CP/PLA and jute fabric/PLA/CP sandwich composites increase the energy absorption capacity in the impact test.