Guidelines for Analysis, Testing, and Nondestructive Inspection of Impact-Damaged Composite Sandwich Structures

Abstract

Sandwich construction composites are used in a wide variety of structural applications largely because of their relative advantages over other designs in terms of improved stability, weight savings, and ease of manufacture and repair. While the design of sandwich structures is at a fairly mature stage of development, less progress has been made in understanding the effect of adverse in-service impact events on structural integrity. Foreign object impact damage in sandwich composites can be attributable to a number of fairly common discrete sources and may result in drastic reductions in composite strength, elastic moduli, and durability and damage tolerance characteristics. In this report, past work is summarized and synthesized to provide guidance for analysis, testing, and nondestructive inspection of impact-damaged composite structures.