Numerical study of the influence of variation skin’s properties of a stitched sandwich structure under three-point bending test

Although the innovation of sandwich panels in structures is an old technology, it has given great performance by improving the resistance of structures by assembling two metal skins attached to a foam core on either side. In recent decades, sandwiches with composite skins have appeared. This new technology has been reinforced by the development of structural features that, while ensuring a solid link between the two skins, also give the structure resistance to the compressive force that stresses the skins during bending. Our research team is quite intrigued by this particularity, so we are focusing through this investigation on the study of the influence of the modification of the properties of the skin on the static behavior of a stitched sandwich structure. To do this, the study undertaken concerns the numerical analysis of a stitched sandwich structure composed of two equal woven fiberglass/epoxy faces, foam core reinforced with latex wicks under a three-point bending test. Three types of beam samples were studied with material variation of the two skins through a numerical model developed using finite element (FE) analysis software was used to achieve our goal. The results obtained show a significant increase of about three times the stresses and consequently a reduction in the displacements of the global structure.