One of the defining advantages of sandwich engineering is that bending stiffness increases exponentially with thickness while adding relatively little weight.
In engineering mechanics, bending stiffness is related to the cube of the panel thickness. This means:
- Doubling thickness can increase stiffness by approximately eight times.
The foam core creates separation between face sheets, which greatly enhances structural efficiency.
This is why lightweight sandwich panels can outperform much heavier solid materials in:
- Deflection control
- Span capability
- Vibration reduction
However, increasing thickness also introduces challenges:
- Higher shear stress in the core
- More demanding adhesive requirements
- Potential local instability
Therefore, optimal thickness design requires balancing:
- Load conditions
- Span length
- Core density
- Skin stiffness
