Enhanced Impact Energy Absorption Characteristics of Sandwich Composites through Tufting

Sandwich structures are highly demanded where a high flexural stiffness per weight ratio is needed. The main limiting factor of these materials is the core/skin interface, which tends to delaminate. Tufting is one of the most promising technologies to reinforce this interface along the z-direction. In this article, the energy absorption of tufted sandwich structures under impact loads is evaluated. Six different types of tufted specimens were tested, including both carbon and glass fiber faces with three different tufting densities. The impact behavior of a sandwich panel is proved to be effectively improved by the tufting process.