Homogenization and Frequency Analysis
of Composite Sandwich Panel with Fiber
Reinforced Polymer Matrix Laminated Faces
Eva Kormanikova 1(B) , Milan Zmindak 2 , Kamila Kotrasova 1 ,
and Pavol Novak 2
1 Technical University of Kosice, Vysokoskolska 4, 04200 Kosice, Slovakia
{eva.kormanikova,kamila.kotrasova}@tuke.sk
2 University of Zilina, Univerzitna 8215/1, 01026 Zilina, Slovakia
{milan.zmindak,pavol.novak}@fstroj.uniza.sk
Abstract. A sandwich panel with laminate faces is used for free vibration analysis. The periodic microstructure and Mori-Tanaka model are used for homogenization of unidirectional fiber reinforced composite. The Shear Deformation Theory is considered for analytical and numerical analysis. FEM in ANSYS is used
for numerical analysis. The effect of sandwich design parameters such as panel
length, core thickness and fiber reinforced angle on vibration response is investigated. Natural frequencies of sandwich panel versus sandwich design parameters
are presented in graphical form.
Keywords: Sandwich panel · Laminate faces · Periodic microstructure ·
Numerical analysis · Natural frequencies
1 Introduction
The motivation for sandwich composites is following. If a plate is bent, the maximum
stresses occur at the top and the bottom surface. So, it makes sense using high strength
materials only for the sheets and using low and lightweight materials in the middle. The
resistance to bending of a rectangular cross-section is proportional to the cube of the
thickness. Increasing the thickness by adding a core in the middle increases the resistance.
The shear stresses have a maximum in the middle of a sandwich beam requiring the core
to support the shear [1].
Sandwich panels are one of very important group of laminated composites. They
consist of two thin faces with thickness of h 1 and h 3 and a core with thickness of h 2 . The
faces are made of high strength materials having good properties under tension, such
as fiber reinforced polymer matrix laminates used in this paper, while the core is made
of lightweight materials such as foam. The advantage of weight and bending stiffness
makes sandwich composites more attractive for some applications than other composite
or conventional materials.
The analysis of simple sandwich structures may be achieved by analytical methods,
by adapting the classical tools of structural analysis on anisotropic elastic structure face
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
S. N. Atluri and I. Vušanovi´ c (Eds.): ICCES 2020, MMS 97, pp. 117–123, 2021.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64690-5_11
of Composite Sandwich Panel with Fiber
Reinforced Polymer Matrix Laminated Faces
Eva Kormanikova 1(B) , Milan Zmindak 2 , Kamila Kotrasova 1 ,
and Pavol Novak 2
1 Technical University of Kosice, Vysokoskolska 4, 04200 Kosice, Slovakia
{eva.kormanikova,kamila.kotrasova}@tuke.sk
2 University of Zilina, Univerzitna 8215/1, 01026 Zilina, Slovakia
{milan.zmindak,pavol.novak}@fstroj.uniza.sk
Abstract. A sandwich panel with laminate faces is used for free vibration analysis. The periodic microstructure and Mori-Tanaka model are used for homogenization of unidirectional fiber reinforced composite. The Shear Deformation Theory is considered for analytical and numerical analysis. FEM in ANSYS is used
for numerical analysis. The effect of sandwich design parameters such as panel
length, core thickness and fiber reinforced angle on vibration response is investigated. Natural frequencies of sandwich panel versus sandwich design parameters
are presented in graphical form.
Keywords: Sandwich panel · Laminate faces · Periodic microstructure ·
Numerical analysis · Natural frequencies
1 Introduction
The motivation for sandwich composites is following. If a plate is bent, the maximum
stresses occur at the top and the bottom surface. So, it makes sense using high strength
materials only for the sheets and using low and lightweight materials in the middle. The
resistance to bending of a rectangular cross-section is proportional to the cube of the
thickness. Increasing the thickness by adding a core in the middle increases the resistance.
The shear stresses have a maximum in the middle of a sandwich beam requiring the core
to support the shear [1].
Sandwich panels are one of very important group of laminated composites. They
consist of two thin faces with thickness of h 1 and h 3 and a core with thickness of h 2 . The
faces are made of high strength materials having good properties under tension, such
as fiber reinforced polymer matrix laminates used in this paper, while the core is made
of lightweight materials such as foam. The advantage of weight and bending stiffness
makes sandwich composites more attractive for some applications than other composite
or conventional materials.
The analysis of simple sandwich structures may be achieved by analytical methods,
by adapting the classical tools of structural analysis on anisotropic elastic structure face
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
S. N. Atluri and I. Vušanovi´ c (Eds.): ICCES 2020, MMS 97, pp. 117–123, 2021.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64690-5_11