Finite element study on the influence of shear key diameter on the shear performance of composite sandwich panel with PU foam core

The present study deals with the shear behavior of the composite sandwich panels comprised of Polyvinylchloride (PVC) and Polyurethane (PU) foam core sandwiched between Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) skins using epoxy resin. Experiments have been carried out to characterize the mechanical response of the constituent materials under tension, compression and shear loading. In-plane shear tests for the sandwich panel reveal that the main failure mode is the delamination between the skin and the core rather than shearing the core itself since the skin-core interaction is the weakest link in such structure. The Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of the sandwich structure, based on the non-linear behavior of the foam core and skin-core cohesive interaction, shows that shear response and failure mode can be predicted with high accuracy.