Fatigue behaviour of PVC foam core sandwich with GFRP faces: Simulation and experimental analysis.

A multi-layer structure by sandwiching rigid cellular PVC (polyvinyl chloride) foam between two GFRP (glass-fibre reinforced plastic) faces is studied in order to investigate the sample edge effects on fatigue life of the sandwich structure. Therefore, a new geometry of specimen is developed based on numerical simulation approach. Compared to the results given by the ASTM C393 standard, the experimental study was confirmed that edge effects are leading to early failures as the shear stresses concentration was shifted from the new geometry. An optimal prediction of fatigue life of foam-based sandwich has been established during bending fatigue test. The different failure modes were followed by microstructural analyses to better explain the global behaviour of the structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]