Wood-based Tri-Axial Sandwich Composite Materials: Design, Fabrication, Testing, Modeling and Application

Abstract

As the demand for sustainable materials increases, there are unique challenges and opportunities to develop light-weight green composites materials for a wide range of applications. Thus wood-based composite materials from renewable forests may provide options for some niche applications while helping to protect our environment. In this paper, the wood-based tri-axial sandwich composite materials either made from hardboard or laminated paper are being studied for various applications having different performance requirements. The wood-based tri-axial sandwich composite is composed of a tri-axial interlocking structural ribbed core bonded to stiff and strong faces with or without reinforced synthetic fiber fabric. Foam can also be selectively filled in the core to achieve specific performance requirements. The geometrical dimension of each component of the tri-axial sandwich composite can be optimized to achieve in the full use of material. Both static and dynamic performance is studied to help determine failure criterion of the wood-based sandwich composite panel. The panel is also being analyzed using compression test, bending test, buckling test, and fatigue test, the results shows these tri-axial composites have excellent mechanical performance. Furthermore, the equivalent analytical and finite analysis models were developed to simulate the mechanical behavior of the wood-based tri-axial sandwich composites for optimal design. The possible options and applications for the wood-based sandwich composite materials were also discussed.

Citation

Li, Jinghao; Hunt, John F.; Gong, Shaoqin; Cai, Zhiyong. 2014. Wood-based Tri-Axial Sandwich Composite Materials: Design, Fabrication, Testing, Modeling and Application. CAMX Conference Proceedings. Orlando, FL, October 13-16, 2014. CAMX – The Composites and Advanced Materials Expo; 2014; 16 p.