SANDWICH PANELS WITH INTEGRATED IR-HEATING LAYERS FOR PASSENGER TRANSPORTATION

Kurzfassung

Innovative sandwich structures, as hybrid materials, offer the possibility to integrate various functions and thus achieve significant weight reductions for overall constructions. This paper is concerned with the development of weight-optimised sandwich structures with an integrated, energy-efficient active infra-red (IR) heating element. The objective is to employ an IR heater instead of a forced-air heating system inside the vehicle’s passenger compartment. Load-bearing structures such as walls, ceilings or floors are ideal structural components for their application [1]. The technology required to manufacture such structures is derived from the production of multi-layer fibreglass sandwiches panels. The production consists of a one-step process: Fibre-glass prepregs and foams, honeycombs or other core materials considered to be suitable for railway applications are moulded into their final shape in a multifunction aluminium tool at high pressure and temperature. The scientific objective of the material tests stated in this paper is to verify that efficient, lightweight, struc-tural interior components for trains or other vehicles can be realised using these sandwich panels. However, the layered structure of these components consisting of composite skin panels, IR heating elements and a foam core presents challenges which also need consideration.