Development of compressive-shear test rig for polymeric foam material behavior

Abstract

A series of experimental and theoretical studies on the impact behaviour of composite sandwich structures have been done by several researchers. It was found that the core material underneath the impact loading area is subjected to multiaxial stresses, where the foam material response and failure depend on its interactive behaviour under compressive and shear stresses. Therefore, transverse shear effects on the compressive behaviour of core foam become an important issue in modelling the impact response of a sandwich beam or panel. The purpose of this paper is to describe the design of compressive-shear test rig and experimental evaluation of the test method for the determination of the failure envelope of a core material such as polymeric foam. A compressive-shear test rig was designed and fabricated in the project. The forces are applied to the core in form of compressive and shear directions. The acquired results for the test found that the mechanical properties are slightly varied with the basic mechanical test methods. It also effect the failure surface of foams where more clear failure surface locus is constructed.