High Strength Wood-based Sandwich Panels Reinforced with Fiberglass and Foam

Mechanical analysis is presented for new high-strength sandwich panels made from wood-based phenolic impregnated laminated paper assembled with an interlocking tri-axial ribbed core. Four different panel configurations were tested, including panels with fiberglass fabric bonded to both outside faces with self-expanding urethane foam used to fill the ribbed core. The mechanical behaviors of the sandwich panels were strength tested via flatwise compression, edgewise compression, and third-point load bending. Panels with fiberglass exhibited significantly increased strength and apparent MOE in edgewise compression and bending, but there were no noticeable effects in flatwise compression. The foam provided improved support that resisted both rib buckling and face buckling for both compression and bending tests. Post-failure observation indicated that core buckling dominated the failures for all configurations used. It is believed that using stiffer foam or optimizing the dimension of the core might further improve the mechanical performance of wood-based sandwich panels.