POLYURETHANE BASE SANDWICH STRUCTURES – FACE SHEET CHARACTERISTICS –

Abstract

Sandwich components and constructions are an important part of modern lightweight design for the vehicle industry. The current paper addresses polyurethane based sandwich structures manufactured with a polyurethane fiber spraying process. For sandwich manufacturing the preform of the sandwich was externally prepared by fixing the core and the glass fiber mats together. The subsequent spraying process was carried out consecutively on the upper and lower side of the sandwich before insertion into the molding press. The influences of 300 g/m², 450 g/m², 600 g/m² and 900 g/m² glass fiber mats in the face sheet thickness were investigated. The characterization of the face sheet’s thickness was carried out using X-ray computed tomography and 3D image analysis methods for non-destructive measurements on prepared samples. Based on these results, the mechanical properties of the face sheets were determined. Finally, a simplified FEM model could be applied and provided excellent agreement with the experimental data. The transfer of these results into an industrial application will be presented.