Transverse Shear Including Skin Effect for Composite Sandwich with Honeycomb Sinusoidal Core

Abstract

Honeycomb fiber-reinforced polymer (HFRP) sandwich panels with sinusoidal core geometry have been used extensively for new construction and replacement of bridge decks. The core geometry used consists of large cavities and represents a new type of core configuration. This study is concerned with the behavior of HFRP panels under transverse shear considering skin effect, and addresses the two contributing factors due to shear warping and bending warping. Shear warping corresponds to the assumption of having a hinge connection between facesheet and core, and bending warping is induced for the assumption of a rigid connection. All previous studies have been focused mainly on shear warping, neglecting for the most part bending warping. A closed-form solution based on proper description of displacement field at the interface is derived considering shear warping. The accuracy of this solution is verified by finite-element (FE) results. The FE model is then applied to study bending warping effect, and also the core-facesheet constraint or interface bonding effect. The equivalent shear stiffness and the stress distributions subject to skin effect are defined, and suggestions for future design considerations are given.