Thermal and mechanical properties of a multifunctional composite square honeycomb sandwich structure

doi:10.1016/j.matdes.2016.04.050

Materials & Design

Volume 102, 15 July 2016, Pages 238-246

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2016.04.050 Get rights and content

Highlights

•
Highly oriented graphite film vastly improves thermal conductivity of composite sandwich structures.
•
A maximum improvement in out-of-plane thermal conductivity of MCHSS is up to approximately 26 times.
•
Increasing HOGF volume content and decreasing interface resistance are most efficient for improving thermal conductivity.
•
MCHSS possesses the adequate out-of-plane compressive and shear properties.

Abstract

A multifunctional composite square honeycomb sandwich structure (MCHSS) is developed which provides both high thermal conductivity and adequate mechanical property for a thermal management system. The out-of-plane thermal conductivity of MCHSS is improved by a simple method of coating highly oriented graphite film (HOGF), and investigated both theoretically and experimentally. There are two most efficient methods to further enhance the out-of-plane thermal conductivity of MCHSS: one is to increase the HOGF volume content, and the other, to decrease the interface thermal resistance. The maximum improvement is up to approximately 26 times for the measured out-of-plane thermal conductivity as compared with the traditional composite sandwich structures. Results indicate that, except for high specific thermal conductivity for thermal management, MCHSS also possess adequate mechanical properties for structural applications. Thus, MCHSS can be considered as a promising candidate for multifunctional structure material in the high-end heat dissipation field.

Graphical abstract

Introduction

Periodic lattice materials are considered as the most promising multifunctional structure materials in the 21st century, and put forward by Ashby, Evans, Fleck, Gibson, Hutchinson and Wadley, owing to their excellent mechanical properties (specific stiffness and specific strength) and multifunctional application potentials [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]. Carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) composite sandwich structures are more remarkable for building ultra-lightweight multifunctional structures, especially for spacecraft. Recently, a variety of composite lattice cores have been fabricated and their performance evaluated [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13]. The experimental results have been added to the modified Ashby material property chart [14] as shown in Fig. 1. It can be obviously seen that composite square honeycomb sandwich panels [11] have significantly higher compressive and shear modulus than the other sandwich panels, on an equal mass basis. For core densities more than 100 kg/m³, composite square honeycomb sandwich panels [11] have superior out-of-plane compressive strength than most known materials. Only when the core densities are less than 100 kg/m³, pyramidal truss core sandwich panels [6] exhibit greater out-of-plane compressive strengths. Moreover, square honeycomb structures overcome the drawback of hexagonal honeycomb structures and show a high in-plane stretching strength (at least for loadings along the directions of the cell walls).

However, owing to vast inner space and low thermal conductivity of composite cores, composite sandwich structures show very low thermal conductivity, which limits its application in the high-end heat dissipation fields such as satellite. Therefore, a multifunctional composite sandwich structure, possessing both the superior mechanical properties and high thermal conductivity, is urgently needed in these fields.

In this paper, MCHSS is devised and fabricated by the CFRP composite laminate coating HOGF [15], [16]. Efforts are underway to determine the out-of-plane thermal conductivity of MCHSS and to assess its out-of-plane compressive and shear properties, both theoretically and experimentally. Moreover, the detailed analysis is conducted to reveal the main factors that affect the out-of-plane thermal conductivity.

Section snippets

Materials and fabrication

The plain woven Toray T300-3 k carbon fiber epoxy prepreg with 45% resin content (a density of 1.45 g/cm³, Liso Composite Material Technology Co. Ltd., China) is used to fabricate the square honeycomb core due to its high specific stiffness and strength. HOGF (the density 2.1 g/cm³, in-plane thermal conductivity is up to 1500 W/mK) with a thickness 20 μm is from Tanyuan Science and Technology Co., Ltd., China. The aluminum alloy (thermal conductivity of 208 W/mK) is used as the facesheet with a

Thermal conductivity

As a baseline reference, thermal conductivities of plain woven CFRP composites are measured by an experimental instrument (LFA 447). The in-plane quasi-isotropic thermal conductivity of the plain woven CFRP composites is 3.6 W/mK, and the out-of-plane thermal conductivity 0.61 W/mK.

Conclusions

Multifunctional composite square honeycomb sandwich structures are made from the plain woven carbon fiber composite laminates coated by HOGF. The analytical results reveal that the out-of-plane thermal conductivity of MCHSS increases with increasing the HOGF volume content ${\overset{̅}{ρ}}_{f}$ , the relative density of composite cores ${\overset{̅}{ρ}}_{comp}$ , the thickness of sandwich structures H and the thermal conductivity of facesheet materials k_upper, together with decreasing the interface thermal resistance R_i. Among them,

Acknowledgments

The present work is supported by the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China (973 Program) under Grant No. 2011CB610303.

References (20)

H. Zhang et al.
Ultra-light CRH wind deflector fabricated by woven lattice sandwich composites
Compos. Sci. Technol.
(2014)
J.S. Yang et al.
Modal response of all-composite corrugated sandwich cylindrical shells
Compos. Sci. Technol.
(2015)
J. Xiong et al.
Fabrication and crushing behavior of low density carbon fiber composite pyramidal truss structures
Compos. Struct.
(2010)
S. Yin et al.
Stretch–bend-hybrid hierarchical composite pyramidal lattice cores
Compos. Struct.
(2013)
T. George et al.
Mechanical response of carbon fiber composite sandwich panels with pyramidal truss cores
Compos. Part A
(2013)
L. Dong et al.
Mechanical properties of carbon fiber composite octet-truss lattice structures
Compos. Sci. Technol.
(2015)
H.L. Fan et al.
Sandwich panels with Kagome lattice cores reinforced by carbon fibers
Compos. Struct.
(2007)
M.F. Ashby et al.
Designing hybrid materials
Acta Mater.
(2003)
Y. Hishiyama et al.
Graphitization behavior of carbon film prepared from high modulus polyimide film: synthesis of high-quality graphite film
Carbon
(1994)
G.C. Yu et al.
Enhancing the thermal conductivity of carbon fiber reinforced polymer composite laminates by coating highly oriented graphite films
Mater. Des.
(2015)

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (50)

Mechanical performance and radar-absorption capacity of carbon Material–Reinforced polymethacrylimide foam: Preparation, comparison, and design
2024, Composites Part B: Engineering
Herein, radar-absorbing polymethacrylimide (RAPMI) foam was prepared using the particle foaming method. Nineteen samples were prepared based on different ratios and absorbent types, and their microstructural characteristics were analyzed and compared. Their dielectric constant and loss tangent were measured at 2–18 GHz, and the electromagnetic (EM) characteristics were analyzed. Subsequently, their mechanical properties were tested. The effect mechanism of the absorbents on the EM and mechanical behavior was analyzed, and the experimental data were compared. Finally, a laminated foam was designed. Results show that the samples can achieve 90% bandwidth effective absorption (reflection loss ≤ −10 dB) at 33.6-mm thickness and 18.6%, 32.4%, 62.5%, 62.9%, 35.7%, and 51.9% maximum increases in compressive strength, compressive modulus, tensile strength, tensile modulus, shear strength, and shear modulus, respectively, compared with particle polymethacrylimide (PMI) foam. The designed laminated foam can theoretically achieve full-band effective absorption at a minimum thickness of 15.3 mm. The preparation of RAPMI foam is simple and inexpensive, and this research strengthens the engineering application of PMI foam in cutting-edge fields, such as military and aerospace. It provides an important reference for researchers, technicians, and engineers in the fields of absorbing materials, polymers, and composites.
Rate capability and Ragone plots for thermal management multifunctional structure designing
2023, International Journal of Mechanical Sciences
With the miniaturization of electronic devices, thermal management has been widely concerned in aerospace engineering. A multifunctional structure with load-bearing and thermal management abilities is proposed and manufactured by combining shape-stabilized phase change material with carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP). The Winkler foundation model is employed to study the load-bearing ability. And corresponding 3D failure mechanism maps are constructed for studying the dominant failure modes. The thermal rate capability and Ragone plots are used for investigating the thermal management ability under different thermal loads. Based on that, the physical properties of phase change materials and geometric parameters influences for thermal management ability are elucidated. Furthermore, the trade-off between load-bearing and thermal management abilities is illustrated by the specific strength – specific energy curves. The appropriate geometric parameters can be selected based on the practical applying conditions through thermal Ragone/structural strength plot. The proposed framework can provide reference for multifunctional structure design.
Mechanical behavior and failure of carbon fiber-reinforced composite sandwich structure inspired by curved-crease origami
2023, Composite Structures
Origami offers a novel design possibility for periodic sandwich cores. The curved-crease origami is adopted to enhance the anti-buckling performance and reduce the abrupt change of the carbon fibers in the origami sandwich cores. CFRP curved-crease origami sandwich structures were fabricated using a hot press molding method. Analytical models were developed for predicting the shear stiffness and strength concerning different failure modes including debonding, compressive and shear buckling, tensile, compressive and shear fracture in both transverse and longitudinal directions. The shear deformation histories, failure modes, strength and stiffness of the sandwich structures were investigated through experiments and finite element analysis (FEA). The analytical models, experiments, and simulations agree with each other reasonably. The origami sandwich undergoes buckling failure when the wall thickness of the origami core is sufficiently thin. With the increase of the wall thickness, debonding between the face sheets and the origami cores usually occurs instead of fracture. The exploration of the shear behaviors lays the foundation for the applications of the origami sandwich structures in the lightweight construction fields.
Flexural behavior, failure analysis, and optimization design of a hybrid composite Kagome honeycomb sandwich structure
2023, Thin-Walled Structures
A carbon fiber-reinforced composite Kagome honeycomb is a new type of structure composed of hexagonal and triangular cells, exhibiting excellent mechanical performance and application potential in the aerospace, automobile, and marine industries. This paper proposes a new hybrid composite Kagome honeycomb sandwich (HCKHS) structure formed using the interlocking method with polymethacrylimide foam sandwich structure as the ribs. The bending characteristics and failure modes were analyzed by conducting three-point bending tests. The experimental results showed excellent flexural bearing and energy absorption capability. Second, analytical models of HCKHS specimens under bending were established. The 1D, 2D, and 3D failure mechanism maps were drawn, and the size effects were analyzed. Based on the principle of minimum specific strength, combined with 3D failure mechanism maps, the optimal design point of the HCKHS structure was obtained through specific strength functions. The proposed method is also applicable to the optimization and design of other 2D composite honeycomb sandwich structures.
3D printed octet plate-lattices for tunable energy absorption
2023, Materials and Design
Tunable energy absorption achieved through grading of lattice structures shows high potential to be used in lightweight cellular cores for energy absorbing structures. This study investigates structurally graded and multi-material lattices consisting of plate-based octet unit cells, under quasi-static compression, to assess their energy absorption ability. Variations in the structure and material compositions of the plate-lattice structures are achieved through changing the plate thickness and through changing the filament material along the lattice in the direction of applied compressive force. The compressive stress–strain behavior reveals a near 10% increase of specific energy absorption (SEA) in the plate thickness graded designs at higher strain compared to the baseline octet lattices. The multi-material arrangements significantly modified onset location of the structure collapse. Finite element models of the structures were developed, and good agreements with experimental results were observed. Effects of varying each of the unit cell geometric parameters were analyzed, and the high sensitivity to the plate inclination angle, which resulted in greater changes to the maximum stress values and control of the overall SEA, was identified. The results demonstrate the capacity to adapt the octet lattice structure design through additive manufacturing to better suit the expected load and application.
Influence of graphene oxide nano particle and aluminum powder on mechanical and thermal behavior of carbon fiber epoxy composite
2023, Materials Today: Proceedings
Influence of graphene oxide nanoparticle and aluminium powder in carbon fiber epoxy composite was analysed in this experimental analysis. Three different compositions were developed based on the following combinations: Specimen 1 (Graphene oxide 3% − 15 gm and Aluminium 1.5% − 7.5 gm), Specimen 2 (Graphene oxide 6% − 30 gm and Aluminium 3% − 15 gm) and Specimen 3 (Graphene oxide 9% − 45 gm and Aluminium 4.5% − 22.5gm). The percentage of graphene oxide and aluminium are chosen depending upon the weight of resin (500 g) used for fabrication. The mechanical and thermal behavior of the developed composites were tested based on ASTM standards. Incorporation of 3 wt% of graphene oxide nano particle and 1.5 wt% of aluminium powder shows the best mechanical and thermal properties. Finite element analysis was performed to compare the static properties of aluminium alloy rim and the developed CFRP rim using ANSYS Workbench 18.2, infers that the CFRP rim had very high strength to weight ratio or specific stiffness than aluminium alloy rim.

View all citing articles on Scopus

View full text

Thermal and mechanical properties of a multifunctional composite square honeycomb sandwich structure

Highlights

Abstract

Graphical abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Materials and fabrication

Thermal conductivity

Conclusions

Acknowledgments

Compos. Sci. Technol.

Compos. Sci. Technol.

Compos. Struct.

Compos. Struct.

Compos. Part A

Compos. Sci. Technol.

Compos. Struct.

Acta Mater.

Carbon

Mater. Des.