• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.717-725
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• 2018

One of the most important design criteria in military tunnels and armoured doors is to resist the blast loads with minimum structural weight. This can be achieved by using steel sandwich panels. In this paper, the nonlinear behaviour of steel sandwich panels, with different core materials: (1) Hollow (no core material); (2) Rigid Polyurethane Foam (RPF); and (3) Vulcanized Rubber (VR) under free air blast loads, was investigated using detailed 3D nonlinear finite element models in Ansys Autodyn. The accuracy of the finite element model proposed was verified using available experimental test data of a similar steel sandwich panel tested. The results show the developed finite element model can be reliably used to simulate the nonlinear behaviour of the steel sandwich panels under free air blast loads. The verified finite element model was used to examine the different parameters of the steel sandwich panel with different core materials. The result shows that the sandwich panel with RPF core material is more efficient than the VR sandwich panel followed by the Hollow sandwich panels. The average maximum displacement of RPF sandwich panel under different ranges of TNT charge (1 kg to 10 kg at a standoff distance of 1 m) is 49% and 53% less than the VR and Hollow sandwich panels, respectively. Detailed empirical design equations were provided to quantify the maximum deformation of the steel sandwich panels with different core materials and core thickness under a different range of blast loads. The developed equations can be used as a guide for engineer to design steel sandwich panels with RPF and VR core material under a different range of free air blast loads.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Advanced Composite Structures
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.35-43
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• 2011

This study examined the structural behaviors of foam insulated concrete sandwich panels subjected to uniform pressure. Finite element models were used to simulate the detailed shear resistance of connectors and the nonlinear behaviors of concrete, foam and rebar components. The models were then validated using data from static tests performed at the University of Missouri. Both composite and non-composite action had a significant effect on the response of the foam insulated concrete sandwich panels, indicating that the simulated shear tie resistance should indeed be incorporated in numerical analyses. The modeling approach used here conveniently simulated the structural behaviors during all loading stages (elastic, yielding, ultimate and post-failure) and was compatible with the American Concrete Institute (ACI) Code and existing design practices. The results of this study will therefore provide useful guidelines for the analysis and design of foam insulated sandwich panels under both static and dynamic loadings.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.459-467
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• 2020

Mechanical and thermal properties of composite sandwich wall panels are affected by changes in their external environment. Humidity and temperature changes induce stress on wall panels and their core connectors. Under the action of ambient temperature, temperature on the outer layer of the wall panel changes greatly, while that on the inner layer only changes slightly. As a result, stress concentration exists at the intersection of the connector and the wall blade. In this paper, temperature field and stress field distribution of UHPC-RW-RC (Ultra-High Performance Concrete - Rock Wool - Reinforced Concrete) wall panel under high temperature-sprinkling and heating-freezing conditions were investigated by using the general finite element software ABAQUS. Additionally, design of the connection between the wall panel and the main structure is proposed. Findings may serve as a scientific reference for design of high performance composite sandwich wall panels.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.60 no.1
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• pp.1-19
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• 2016

In this study, the supersonic panel flutter of doubly curved composite sandwich panels with variable thickness is considered under aerothermoelastic loading. Considering different radii of curvatures of the face sheets in this paper, the thickness of the core is a function of plane coordinates (x,y), which is unique. For the first time in the current model, the continuity conditions of the transverse shear stress, transverse normal stress and transverse normal stress gradient at the layer interfaces, as well as the conditions of zero transverse shear stresses on the upper and lower surfaces of the sandwich panel are satisfied. The formulation is based on an enhanced higher order sandwich panel theory and the vertical displacement component of the face sheets is assumed as a quadratic one, while a cubic pattern is used for the in-plane displacement components of the face sheets and the all displacement components of the core. The formulation is based on the von $K{\acute{a}}rm{\acute{a}}n$ nonlinear approximation, the one-dimensional Fourier equation of the heat conduction along the thickness direction, and the first-order piston theory. The equations of motion and boundary conditions are derived using the Hamilton principle and the results are validated by the latest results published in the literature.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.67 no.6
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• pp.565-578
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• 2018

This research article reported the nonlinear finite solutions of the nonlinear flexural strength and stress behaviour of nano sandwich graded structural shell panel under the combined thermomechanical loading. The nanotube sandwich structural model is derived mathematically using the higher-order displacement polynomial including the full geometrical nonlinear strain-displacement equations via Green-Lagrange relations. The face sheets of the sandwich panel are assumed to be carbon nanotube-reinforced polymer composite with temperature dependent material properties. Additionally, the numerical model included different types of nanotube distribution patterns for the sandwich face sheets for the sake of variable strength. The required equilibrium equation of the graded carbon nanotube sandwich structural panel is derived by minimizing the total potential energy expression. The energy expression is further solved to obtain the deflection values (linear and nonlinear) via the direct iterative method in conjunction with finite element steps. A computer code is prepared (MATLAB environment) based on the current higher-order nonlinear model for the numerical analysis purpose. The stability of the numerical solution and the validity are verified by comparing the published deflection and stress values. Finally, the nonlinear model is utilized to explore the deflection and the stresses of the nanotube-reinforced (volume fraction and distribution patterns of carbon nanotube) sandwich structure (different core to face thickness ratios) for the variable type of structural parameter (thickness ratio, aspect ratio, geometrical configurations, constraints at the edges and curvature ratio) and unlike temperature loading.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.115-126
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• 2001

In this paper, through a series of comparative experiments, effects of two different cure processing methods, cocure and precure, on the mechanical properties of honeycomb core materials for aircraft applications are considered. Mass of moisture accumulated into the closed cells of the sandwich panel specimen from the measured mass of moisture diffused to the full saturation state into the elements(skin, adhesive layer, Nomex honeycomb), consisting the honeycomb sandwich specimen has been calculated. Water reservoir of 70$\^{C}$ was used to have specimens absorb moisture to see the influence of moisture absorbed into sandwich panel on its mechanical properties. For the repair condition holding for 2 hours at 177$\^{C}$(350℉) temperature, a pressure due to the vapor expansion in each cell of the sandwich panel, which may result in the local separation of the interface between laminated skin and the surface of the honeycomb, has been estimated by vapor pressure-temperature relation from the thermodynamic steam table and compared to the pressure from the ideal gas state equation. The bonding strengths of the laminated skins on the flat surface of the Nomex honeycomb have been compared by the flatwise tension test and climbing drum peel test performed at room temperature for dry, wet and wet-repair specimens, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.75-89
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• 2019

In the present work, structural analyses for light weight corrugate 3 layered sandwich panels are carried out. The mechanical properties of the sandwich panels are obtained using the modified analytical closed form based on a corrugated panel deformation and the homogenization scheme of an uniaxial composite. Subsequently, the mechanical properties estimated by the two aforementioned methods were employed for the numerical analyses for the corrugated sandwich panels under the specifically loading conditions, and a comparison between two methods was also made.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.198-201
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• 2002

It has been well-blown that sandwich structures are efficient to resist bending loads by increasing the moment of inertia of the panel. However, the accurate theoretical prediction of failure load and its optimization of sandwich beams for strength under concentrated loads were so complicated. Moreover, the appropriate selection of the variables, such as face thickness, core density and core thickness of the sandwich beam with many theories has continuously researched to satisfy for the given strength to weight structural requirement. There will be interesting to investigate the effect of those variables with its optimization for the load resistance.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.382-388
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• 2010

This paper describes the standardized finite element model for carbody structures of railway vehicle made of sandwich composites. Recently, sandwich composites were widely used to railway vehicle due to the improvement of energy efficiency, high specific stiffness and strength, weight reduction and space saving in korea. Therefore, structural integrity should be verified using finite element analysis prior to the manufacture of composite railway vehicle. The standardized finite element model for composite carbody structures was introduced through comparing the results of real structural test under vertical, compressive, twisting load and natural frequency test of various railway vehicles in this study. The results show that the quadratic shell element is suitable to model the reinforced metal frame used to improve the flexural stiffness of sandwich panel compared to beam element, and layered shell and solid element are recommended to model the skin and honeycomb core of sandwich panel compared to sandwich shell element. Also, the proposed standard finite element model has the merit of being applied to crashworthiness problem without modifications of finite element model.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.74-82
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• 2017

Fires in buildings built using sandwich panels are difficult to extinguish, and the damage caused by the fire spreading through the inner core material is extensive. Sandwich panels consist of a nonflammable material on both sides of an insulation material. The types of insulation material include organic and inorganic insulation materials, but the former are used in more than 80% of the case. Organic insulation is economically advantageous compared to inorganic insulation, but it is vulnerable to fire. Therefore, the damage caused by sandwich panel fires is higher than that for general fires. In the case of the noxious gas analyzer test, the panel is tested with three round holes having a diameter of 25 mm, in order to determine the risk of the core material, but the cone calorimeter test is carried out using a sandwich panel. In this study, the cone calorimeter test was conducted to examine the fire risk of the composite material when heated on a nonflammable surface, exposed to the core material through a hole, and heated directly the core material. The type of organic insulation employed was flame retardant EPS (Expanded Polystyrene), and the test specimens were tested in three types of sandwich panel, a perforated sandwich panel and single core material. The purpose of this study is to propose a method of measuring the fire risk of the core materials of composite materials using the cone calorimeter test.