I have a general question for the structures guys here.
Looking at a typical flat-panel composite sandwich structure, with facing sheets separated by a rigid-foam core. Imagine the sandwich edge-loaded in compression, parallel to the facing sheets.
I'm presuming the dominant failure mode will be failure of the core, which then allows buckling of the facing sheets. So the ultimate loading of the structure in this particular case would be the tensile or compressive strength of the core material, rather than the composite facing sheets themselves. Is that broadly correct, or is there another failure mode I'm missing? Or am I oversimplifying altogether?
Looking at a typical flat-panel composite sandwich structure, with facing sheets separated by a rigid-foam core. Imagine the sandwich edge-loaded in compression, parallel to the facing sheets.
I'm presuming the dominant failure mode will be failure of the core, which then allows buckling of the facing sheets. So the ultimate loading of the structure in this particular case would be the tensile or compressive strength of the core material, rather than the composite facing sheets themselves. Is that broadly correct, or is there another failure mode I'm missing? Or am I oversimplifying altogether?
