NUMERICAL ANALYSIS AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF NOMEX™ HONEYCOMB CORE

This paper presents an investigation on the mechanical response of the Nomex honeycomb core subjected to flatwise compressive loading. Thin plate elastic in-plane compressive buckling theory is used to analyze the Nomex honeycomb core cell wall. A mesoscopic finite element (FE) model of honeycomb sandwich structure with the Nomex honeycomb cell walls is established by employing ABAQUS/Explicit shell elements. The compressive strength and compressive stiffness of Nomex honeycomb core with different heights and thickness of cell walls, i.e. double cell walls and single cell walls, are analyzed numerically using the FE model. Flatwise compressive tests are also carried out on bare honeycomb cores to validate the numerical method. The results suggest that the compressive strength and compression stiffness are related to the geometric dimensions of the honeycomb core. The Nomex honeycomb core with a height of 6 mm has a higher strength than that of 8 mm. In addition, the honeycomb core with lower height possesses stronger anti-instability ability, including the compressive strength and stiffness. The proposed mesoscopic model can effectively simulate the crushing process of Nomex honeycomb core and accurately predict the strength and stiffness of honeycomb sandwich panels. Our work is instructive to the practical applications in engineering.