Numerical and experimental investigation for flexural response of Kevlar short fiber tissue/carbon fiber belts toughened honeycomb sandwich plate

This paper investigates the flexural behavior of honeycomb sandwich panels with a toughened/untoughened interface using carbon fiber belt and short aramid fiber tissues. In the first part of the paper, bending response analysis of carbon fiber aluminum honeycomb sandwich plates with an untoughened interface is done using finite element-based first-order shear deformation theory. In the second part, experimental analysis is done to examine the effect of loading rates on the mechanical characteristics of plain and toughened sandwich panels using a three-point bending test. Four types of interface toughening are used as unidirectional and bi-directional stitches of carbon fiber belts, Kevlar short-fiber tissues, and carbon fiber belts combined with Kevlar short-fiber tissues. Experimental result shows that interface toughening improves the maximum load and energy absorbed by sandwich specimens for all loading rates. A scanning electron microscope is used to observe and analyze the failure mode and mechanism of strengthening the interface. It is observed that the stitch of the carbon fiber belt increases the adhesion contact between face sheets and core leading to prevent interfacial debonding. The peak load and energy absorptions of carbon fiber belts toughened interface sandwich are increased by 51 % and 42.5 %, respectively, compared with that of the plain sandwich by a small increment of weight (14%).