Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Core Structures on Low-Velocity Impact Response of PEEK Sandwich Panels Manufactured by FDM

To improve the dynamic performance of sandwich panels, a bamboo bio-inspired core structural sandwich panel was designed, and two other general structures of sandwich panels, namely, cubic and honeycomb, were designed for comparison. These structural sandwich panels were manufactured using the fused deposition modeling technique. The dynamic responses of sandwich panels with different core structures under 5, 10, and 15 J of impact energy were evaluated and compared through low-velocity impact (LVI) tests. Finally, the non-destructive characterization method was employed to analyze the failure mechanism. Results indicate that the bamboo structural sandwich panels achieved maximum load capacity and absorbed the most energy among the three structural sandwich panels. The bamboo structure exhibited the best performance as the core structure of sandwich panels in resisting LVI. That is, the higher the impact energy and velocity are, the stronger and more brittle the sandwich are.