Investigation of mass distribution between core and face sheet on bending energy absorption of self-reinforced PP sandwich beams

Abstract Self-reinforced polymer composites (SRCs) are thermoplastic composites. The matrix and reinforcement belong to the same family of polymers that makes SRCs fully recyclable compared to multi-component traditional fiber-reinforced epoxy matrix-based composites. There have been several studies on fabrication methods and material properties of flat SRCs laminates. Still, it is quite challenging to implement these methods for large scale automatic production of SRCs based sandwich structures. We fabricated self-reinforced polypropylene (SrPP) sandwich beams (SrPPSBs) through an ex-situ consolidation based fabrication method that can be potentially applied for high volume cost-effective production of SRCs structures. Three-point bending tests were performed on SrPPSB with non-symmetric mass distribution between core and face sheet (FS) to investigate the effects of mass distribution on their flexural properties and energy absorption capacity. As the sandwich beams' deflection is a complex phenomenon due to many material and geometrical parameters, a finite element model was developed to predict the deflection behavior and energy absorption capacity. The FEA results showed good agreement with experimental data.