Failure Behavior of Cellular-Core Ceramic Sandwich Composites

The mechanical behavior of a novel ceramic sandwich composite system was investigated. This system was comprised of a low‐density, cellular alumina core bonded to dense alumina faceplates. The flexural strength and elastic properties of the core material alone were measured as a function of relative density. For the sandwich system, failure mechanisms and failure loads for a variety of core densities and face thicknesses were recorded. Initial failure mechanisms were observed to be exclusively core fracture but in a non‐catastrophic manner. In order to successfully predict these failure loads with existing theory, Weibull statistics were incorporated into the analysis. This allowed flexural strengths measured independently on the core material to be scaled to those expected from the stress distribution in the sandwich core.