Experimental and numerical simulation of the static behaviour of the sandwich beams

This study covered the static behaviour of the sandwich composite structures. Sandwich beam under three point bending for different densities of foam with different span length is studied. Present simulation can be considered as a first stage for fatigue analysis of the sandwich structures under same conditions. Initially PVC as a foam and glass fibre laminates (0 degree/90 degree/90 degree) as skins were examined separately. On the second stage, sandwich beam as whole was tested with same geometry, material and boundary conditions. At last experimental results were compared with the finite element analysis. A good agreement was observed between the experimental and FEM results. (author)