Sandwich structures are ideal for planar parts which require a high bending stiffness ata low weight. Usually, sandwich structures are manufactured using a joining step, connecting theface sheets with the core. The PUR spraying process allows to include the infiltration of the facesheet fibres, the curing of the matrix and the joining of the face sheets to the core within one processstep. Furthermore, this manufacturing process allows for the use of open cell core structures withoutinfiltrating the core, which enables a comparison of different material configurations, assembled bythe same manufacturing process. The selection of these materials, with the aim of the lowest possiblemass of the sandwich composite at a constant bending stiffness, is displayed systematically within thiswork.It could be shown that the bending modulus calculated from the component properties matched theexperimentally achieved values well, with only few exceptions. The optimum of the bending modulus,the face sheet thickness and the resulting effective density could be calculated and also matched theexperimental values well. The mass-specific bending stiffness of the sandwich composites with corestructures of open cell aluminium foams was higher than with closed cell aluminium foams, but wasexceeded by sandwich composites with Nomex honeycomb cores.
Effect of Structural Differences on the Mechanical Properties of 3D Integrated Woven Spacer Sandwich Composites