Developing and testing of polymer foam core sandwich structures with hybrid carbon fiber/wire mesh sheet facings

In this study, flexural characteristics of sandwich structures consist of carbon fiber/epoxy facings hybridized with fine wire mesh sheets and extremely low-density PVC foam core were investigated. A comprehensive work was conducted considering the following parameters: core thickness, wire mesh size, stacking sequences of wire mesh sheets, and support span length in flexural tests. During the evaluation of bending properties, both analytical and experimental approaches were utilized. To test the effect of design parameters on experimental results, two-way ANOVA was also applied. Failure mode analysis was made based on analytical collapse force mechanisms and primary failure modes were addressed. Significant improvements in flexural characteristics of sandwich structures were obtained. Besides improving bending behavior and the increased load-carrying capacity even at the same deflection values, the sandwiches with wire mesh sheets also prevented catastrophic sudden failure. The developed sandwiches can be good candidates in applications where both high stiffness-to-weight ratio and resistance to sudden failure are desired.