Effect of energy-absorbing materials on the mechanical behaviour of hybrid FRP honeycomb core sandwich composites

Hybrid FRP (70 % of carbon and 30 % of ‘E’ glass) is used to develop the honeycomb core sandwich panels filled with energy absorbing materials by Vacuum bag moulding technique.Mechanical behaviour of the sandwich panels has been experimentally investigated by three-point bending, edgewise compression, flatwise compression and Charpy impact tests as per the ASTM standards. The failure mechanisms of the tested composites are analysed through Macro morphology. Experimental results indicated that though the change of materials satisfactorily increased the mechanical properties, the PUF filled honeycomb sandwich panel improved the high strength, specific stiffness, critical load and rigidity than other two sandwich structures. The experimental values are analyzed in ANSYS 16.0 Release software. On analyzing the performance of the composites, the PUF filled Hybrid FRP sandwich panel is best suitable at low cost and lightweight structures such as marine vehicles, airplane floors and helicopter fuselages. © 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.