Mechanical performance of three-dimensional printed sandwich composite with a high-flexible core

This paper aims to investigate experimentally and using finite element analysis the performance of using three-dimensional printing technology to produce a composite sandwich panel that is made of the high-flexible core as well as with high stiffness upper and lower surfaces made of a glass fiber reinforced composite filament. There are many advantages of using sandwich structures in many applications, especially the aerospace field, where the high stiffness to strength and the lightweight is the most preferred in such applications. The conventional manufacturing methods that are used to produce sandwich panels are limited to particular core geometry, whereas manufacturing a composite core is not possible by these traditional production methods. So by using additive manufacturing technology, it becomes more applicable to design a combination of different geometries and materials to achieve properties that have never been made before, especially combining flexibility and high energy absorption keeping high strength to failure. A central deflection to a length of 0.26 is observed within the elastic zone, a remarkable ratio in beams that reflects the three-dimensional printed sandwich beams’ capability with a highly flexible core to absorb energy that would open doors for many industrial applications that is attributed to the lowest flexural rigidity (167E-3Pa · m4) of the sandwich by using the TriHex infill pattern. In contrast, the Gyroid infill structure could afford the highest central load (0.264 kN). At the peak load applied on the sandwich beam, a maximum error of 5.4% is estimated by finite element analysis lower than the experimental values.