Virtual test methods can contribute to reducing the great effort for physical tests in the development of lightweight products. The present work describes an approach for virtual testing of sandwich panel joints based on the Building Block Approach and the Finite Elements Method. Building on a multitude of physical tests on sandwich materials and joints, adequate sub-models are developed, validated and synthesized to top-level models. The developed approach is eventually applied for the development of a novel sandwich panel joint.

"Structural and Failure Mechanics of Sandwich Composites" by Leif A. Carlsson and George A. Kardomateas focuses on some important deformation and failure modes of sandwich panels such as global buckling, wrinkling and local instabilities, and face/core debonding. The book also provides the mechanics background necessary for understanding deformation and failure mechanisms in sandwich panels and the response of sandwich structural parts to a variety of loadings. Specifically, first-order and high-order sandwich panel theories, and three-dimensional elasticity solutions for the structural behavior outlined in some detail. Elasticity analysis can serve as a benchmark for judging the accuracy of simplified sandwich plate, shell and beam theories. Furthermore, the book reviews test methods developed for the characterization of the constituent face and core materials, and sandwich beams and plates. The characterization of face/core debonding is a major topic of this text, and analysis methods based on fracture mechanics are described and applied to several contemporary test specimens. Test methods and results documented in the literature are included and discussed. The book will benefit structural and materials engineers and researchers with the desire to learn more about structural behavior, failure mechanisms, fracture mechanics and damage tolerance of sandwich structures.

This book, framed in the processes of engineering analysis and design, presents concepts in mechanics of materials for students in two-year or four-year programs in engineering technology, architecture, and building construction; as well as for students in vocational schools and technical institutes. Using the principles and laws of mechanics, physics, and the fundamentals of engineering, Mechanics of Materials: An Introduction for Engineering Technology will help aspiring and practicing engineers and engineering technicians from across disciplines—mechanical, civil, chemical, and electrical—apply concepts of engineering mechanics for analysis and design of materials, structures, and machine components. The book is ideal for those seeking a rigorous, algebra/trigonometry-based text on the mechanics of materials.

Sandwich structures represent a special form of a laminated composite material or structural elements, where a relatively thick, lightweight and compliant core material separates thin stiff and strong face sheets. The faces are usually made of laminated polymeric based composite materials, and typically, the core can be a honeycomb type material, a polymeric foam or balsa wood. The faces and the core are joined by adhesive bonding, which ensures the load transfer between the sandwich constituent parts. The result is a special laminate with very high bending stiffness and strength to weight ratios. Sandwich structures are being used successfully for a variety of applications such as spacecraft, aircraft, train and car structures, wind turbine blades, boat/ship superstructures, boat/ship hulls and many others. The overall objective of the 7th International Conference on Sandwich Structures (ICSS-7) is to provide a forum for the presentation and discussion of the latest research and technology on all aspects of sandwich structures and materials, spanning the entire spectrum of research to applications in all the fields listed above.