STRUCTURAL BEHAVIOUR OF SANDWICH PANELS WITH PROFILED METALLIC FACINGS AND RIGID POLYURETHANE FOAM CORE

Abstract

Sandwich elements obtained by combining different facing and core materials are currently utilised in roof and wall claddings as well as internal partitions. In many civil engineering applications the sandwich panels are made of flat or profiled metal facings acting compositely with a light weight core having appropriate insulating and stiffening properties. Adequate bonding between adjacent layers may be achieved by using the bonding capabilities of some rigid plastic foams or by use of adhesives at the interface facing/core. Mechanical testing has an important role in both the design and quality control of sandwich panels. Tests can be made on materials or on a complete panel. For material tests, small sandwich specimens are used, whereas loading tests are usually performed on fully-sized panel. The first part of the paper presents some comments on the experimental results of sandwich samples, cut from full size panels, loaded in tension, shear and bending. For a complete characterization of these panels, their structural behaviour must be known and, therefore, mechanical tests on full scale elements have been carried out. The paper also presents the most important results of an experimental programme carried out to prove the structural efficiency of full scale roof sandwich panels made of profiled steel facings and polyurethane core.