Experimental research of compressive responses of multi-layered woven textile sandwich panels under quasi-static loading

Multi-layered panels were manufactured by stacking thin monolayer panels to improve the energy absorption ability of the woven textile sandwich. Quasi-static compression experiments were conducted to get the stress strain curves and to reveal the energy absorption mechanism. For multi-layered panels staked by monolayer of 3 mm thickness, the core piles experience the strength failure; that renders the panel high load resistance and a strain-hardening curve before the densification. The thickening of the monolayer would trigger the monolayer stack to buckle one after the other, which decreases the load resistance of the panel and renders a prolonged zigzag load deformation curve. The peak load of the multi-layered structure is found to be close to its constituting monolayer, but much greater than a monolayer panel of the same thickness. The deformation of the multi-layered panel then becomes a multiple process of monolayer collapses. Energy absorption of the multi-layered panel is greatly enhanced and far exceeds that of the monolayer panel of the same thickness. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.