Enhancing out-of-plane compressive performance of carbon fiber composite honeycombs

This paper focuses on strengthening carbon fiber composite honeycombs which provide the higher strength than other competitive lightweight materials by the design of curved wall topology. And the carbon fiber composite curved honeycombs (CCCHs) are manufactured via a molding and bonding process. The out-of-plane compressive properties of the woven and unidirectional laminated CCCHs are measured and analyzed. In addition, the effects of curvature radius and wall thickness on the compressive strength of the laminated CCCHs are investigated. The experimental results show that the out-of-plane compressive strengths increase when only the curvature radius decreases or the wall thickness increases. By comparison, the out-of-plane compressive strengths of the laminated CCCHs show superior to those of almost existing competitive lightweight honeycombs, and it can be considered as a selective lightweight sandwich structure. It provides a possibility for the honeycomb structure to be used as load-bearing components.