Numerical and Experimental Investigations on Mechanical Behavior of Composite Corrugated Core

Tensile and flexural characteristics of corrugated laminate panels were studied using numerical and analytical methods and compared with experimental data. Prepreg laminates of glass fiber plain woven cloth were hand-laid by use of a heat gun to ease the creation of the panel. The corrugated panels were then manufactured by using a trapezoidal machined aluminium mould. First, a series of simple tension tests were performed on standard samples to evaluate the material characteristics. Next, the corrugated panels were subjected to tensile and three-point bending tests. The force-displacement graphs were recorded. Numerical and analytical solutions were proposed to simulate the mechanical behavior of the panels. In order to model the energy dissipation due to delamination phenomenon observed in tensile tests in all members of corrugated core, plastic behavior was assigned to the whole geometry, not only to the corner regions. Contrary to the literature, it is shown that the three-stage mechanical behavior of composite corrugated core is not confined to aramid reinforced corrugated laminates and can be observed in other types such as fiber glass. The results reveal that the mechanical behavior of the core in tension is sensitive to the variation of core height. In addition, for the first time, the behavior of composite corrugated core was studied and verified in bending. Finally, the analytical and numerical results were validated by comparing them with experimental data. A good degree of correlation was observed which showed the suitability of the finite element model for predicting the mechanical behavior of corrugated laminate panels.