Corrugated Core- and Fold Core-Based Sandwich Panels

In recent decades, the application of sandwich structures in aircraft construction and other advanced engineering applications has rapidly been increased. The main feature of the sandwich structures is the use of thin stiff outer layers (face sheets) on the two sides of one or more low-density inner layers (core). Such a construction provides superior characteristics such as high bending stiffness, improved shock resistance and high energy absorption, while the overall weight of this structure could be substantially lower than that of a monolithic design. A large number of combinations of materials and architectures are available today to be used for both the core and outer layers of sandwich panels. Common configurations of lightweight cores for sandwich panels include corrugated cores, fold cores, honeycombs, foam cores and lattice cores. In this chapter, an overview of corrugated and fold core sandwich structures with respect to their characteristics and functions is given.