Effects of thermal exposure on mechanical behavior of carbon fiber composite pyramidal truss core sandwich panel

An experimental study was performed to investigate the effect of high temperature exposure on mechanical properties of carbon fiber composite sandwich panel with pyramidal truss core. For this purpose, sandwich panels were exposed to different temperatures for different times. Then sandwich panels were tested under out-of-plane compression till failure after thermal exposure. Our results indicated that both the thermal exposure temperature and time were the important factors affecting the failure of sandwich panels. Severe reductions in residual compressive modulus and strength were observed when sandwich panels were exposed to 300 degrees C for 6 h. The effect of high temperature exposure on failure mode of sandwich panel was revealed as well. Delamination and low fiber to matrix adhesion caused by the degradation of the matrix properties were found for the specimens exposed to 300 degrees C. The modulus and strength of sandwich panels at different thermal exposure temperatures and times were predicted with proposed method and compared with measured results. Experimental results showed that the predicted values were close to experimental values. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.