Effect of additively manufactured core geometry on the transverse compression performance of foam‐filled sandwich composite structures

Abstract This paper presents a comprehensive assessment of the quasi‐static compression response of novel 3D‐printed carbon fiber‐reinforced polymer (CFRP) and glass fiber‐reinforced polymer (GFRP) core‐based corrugated foam‐filled sandwich composite structures (SCS). The foam‐filled SCSs with five different CFRP and GFRP corrugated core geometries, that is, rectangular, trapezoidal, triangular, sinusoidal, and X‐core, were fabricated using the hybrid manufacturing method, that is, the corrugated cores were produced using fused filament fabrication (FFF), while the facesheets were fabricated using vacuum‐assisted infusion processes. Among different core geometries, the trapezoidal core SCS outperformed and showed the highest peak compressive load, while the X‐core SCSs exhibited the lowest peak load and energy absorption. Among different core materials, SCSs with CFRP cores exhibited superior peak compressive loads and energy absorption, irrespective of core geometry. However, both CFRP and GFRP core SCSs exhibited similar compressive stiffness, keeping the same geometry of the core. Results elucidate that the foam‐filled SCSs with a trapezoidal CFRP core are an appropriate configuration for superior compressive performance, demonstrating up to 3 times higher peak load as compared to the lowest peak load obtained in the case of X‐GFRP SCSs. The eigenvalue buckling analysis reveals that excessive bending of the core walls causes buckling under compressive loads, which is primarily responsible for localized failure in the CFRP and GFRP cores at various locations observed experimentally. These findings will make an important contribution to the design and development of 3D‐printed SCS for high‐performance and lightweight applications. Highlights Novel SCS with additively manufactured fiber‐reinforced composite core. SCSs were fabricated using hybrid manufacturing methods. Compression performance of carbon and glass fiber‐reinforced cores was examined. The influence of core geometry on the failure mechanisms was investigated.