New advances in fiber-reinforced composite honeycomb materials

In sandwich structures, lightweight cellular materials as the core hold the face sheets far away from the neutral axis to maximize the bending performance of the structure. Honeycomb materials as a major type of lightweight cellular materials have been widely applied in various fields, including aerospace, vehicle, marine, architecture and mechanical engineering, due to reliable mechanical properties and excellent designability. Using fiber-reinforced composites is an efficient method to develop ultralight honeycomb materials with superior mechanical behaviors. In recent years, fiber-reinforced composite honeycomb materials possessing lightweight and excellent mechanical performances have attracted noticeable attention to replacing traditional aluminum honeycombs and Nomex honeycombs. Compared to metal, polymer and Nomex paper, fiber-reinforced composites possess various merits, such as high specific stiffness and specific strength, excellent fatigue property, corrosion resistance and high-temperature resistance. Thus, the applications of fiber-reinforced honeycomb material for sandwich core have unlimited potential in hypersonic vehicles, long-range rockets, cargo vessels and protective systems. Although the fact that attention has been rapidly increasing, there is a lack of comprehensive reviews of new advances in the field of fiber-reinforced composite honeycomb materials. In this review, new advances reported by different scientists in the field of fiber-reinforced honeycomb materials have been reviewed and analyzed to provide an in-depth overview and knowledge for beginners in the field of ultra-lightweight and high-performance composite sandwich architectures. The challenges and prospects for the development of fiber-reinforced honeycomb materials have also been presented.