Reproducibility of ring compression test for evaluation of new honeycomb materials

A ring compression test was developed to allow for new potential honeycomb materials to be tested without producing a full honeycomb core. In this study, reproducibility of the ring compression test was demonstrated and the effects of resin formulation on the strength of the rings were evaluated. Deviations in results were attributed to variations in ring fabrication materials. Evaluations of the effects of resin batch and test set-up variability on ring compression results were demonstrated. Ring compression values produced were reproducible with both the commercial and model resin system. The deviations between the different batches of model resin were less than 9%. Standard deviations remained constant for the commercial system yet increased for the model resin systems with increased ring weight.