Damping Analysis of Sandwich Material PDF

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Damping Analysis of Sandwich Composite Materials

Mustapha Assarar, Abderrahim El Mahi and Jean-Marie Berthelot
Journal of Composite Materials 2009 43: 1461
DOI: 10.1177/0021998308105863
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Damping Analysis of Sandwich

Composite Materials
MUSTAPHA ASSARAR AND ABDERRAHIM EL MAHI
University of Maine, Avenue O. Messiaen, Le Mans cedex 9, 72085, France
JEAN-MARIE BERTHELOT*
ISMANS, Institute for Advanced Materials and Mechanics
44 avenue Bartholdi, Le Mans 72000, France
ABSTRACT: The article presents an analysis of the damping of sandwich

composites, made of PVC foam cores and laminated skins. Damping parameters
are investigated using beam test specimens and an impulse technique. Damping
modeling is developed using a finite element analysis which evaluated the different
energies dissipated in the material directions of the core and the layers of the skins.
The results obtained show that this analysis describes fairly well the experimental
results. Next, finite element analysis is applied to investigate the influence of different
parameters of the core and skins. The finite element analysis considered can be
applied to complex shape structures.
KEY WORDS: sandwich, damping, finite element analysis, vibration testing.
INTRODUCTION
HE PROBLEM OF dissipating energy in structures so as to reduce vibrations, and so to
avoid fatigue failure, is an important consideration in mechanical design of structures.
Generally, the damping of metal structures is low, that can induce structure vibrations with
high amplitudes. For fiber-reinforced composites, damping is higher and it depends on
fibers, resin type, layer orientation, stacking sequence, etc. In sandwich materials, a high
part of the energy is dissipated by the transverse shear effects induced in the sandwich core.
Earlier works on the vibrations of sandwich materials were reported in the survey papers
of Nakra [1,2]. Based on these works, different contributions [38] were developed
introducing the concept of a complex modulus, using the elastic-viscoelastic correspondence principle. In this concept, the real part of the complex modulus represents the elastic
stiffness and the imaginary part is associated with the energy dissipation. More recently,
the concept of complex modulus was associated to a high-order shear deformation theory
by Meunier and Shenoi [9] for modeling the damping of sandwich plates. A finite element
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jmberthelot@ismans.fr

Figures 118 appear in color online: http://jcm.sagepub.com
Journal of COMPOSITE MATERIALS, Vol. 43, No. 13/2009

0021-9983/09/13 146125 $10.00/0
DOI: 10.1177/0021998308105863
SAGE Publications 2009
1461
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M. ASSARAR
ET AL.
analysis for predicting the modal damping of thick composites and sandwich plates was
developed by Plagianakos and Saravanos [10]. Previous linear layerwise formulations
[11,12] provided the basis for developing a discrete-layer higher order theory satisfying
compatibility in interlaminar shear stress, and modal damping was calculated by the
modal strain energy dissipation method. The effect of ply orientation of composite beams
with interply viscoelastic damping layers was investigated. Experimental investigation of
modal damping illustrated the accuracy of the developed formulation.
Extensive analyses of the damping of rectangular laminate plates were developed by
Berthelot and Sefrani [13,14] using the Ritz method. This method was then extended
[15,16] to the case of laminates with interleaved viscoelastic layers. The Ritz method is
restricted to the analysis of rectangular plates. In the case of complex shape structures, it is
necessary to consider a finite element analysis [17].
The purpose of the present article is to develop modeling of damping of sandwich
materials and structures based on a finite element analysis. The results derived from this
analysis are then applied to the experimental evaluation of the damping parameters of
sandwich materials from the flexural vibrations of beam specimens. Parametric studies
that are essential to the design of structures are next considered in what follows.
ESTIMATION OF THE DAMPING OF SANDWICH
COMPOSITE MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES
Stress Field in Sandwich Composite Material
A sandwich material is made from a material of low density (the core) with face sheets
(the skins) of high stiffnesses bonded to each other of the surfaces of the core. The essential
function of the core is to transfer, by transverse shear, the mechanical loads developed on
one skin to the other.
In the general case, the skins are laminates of thickness hs1 for the lower skin and of
thickness hs2 for the upper skin (Figure 1). The thickness hc of the core is usually much
greater than that of the skins. The coordinate system is chosen in such a way that the (x, y)
plane is the middle plane of the core.
The theory of sandwich plates considers [18,19] the following fundamental assumptions
on the displacement field:
(i)
The in-plane displacements uc and vc in the core are linear functions of the
transverse z coordinate.
y
z
Skin
hs2
hc
Core
x
hc/2
hs1
Figure 1. Sandwich plate.
1463
(ii)
(iii)
The in-plane displacements u and v are uniform through the thickness of the skins.
The transverse displacement w is independent of the z coordinate. Thus, the strain
"zz is neglected in the core and the skins.
The previous sandwich plate theory is usually considered to analyze the mechanical
behavior of sandwich structures using usual finite element codes. This theory is restricted
to the analysis of the bending and twisting modes of vibrations, such as the modes
considered in the present article. Pumping modes (symmetric out-of-plane movements of
the faces) as well as the in-plane nodes can not be studied by the previous theory.
The strain field and the stress field, related to the reference system (x, y, z), are deduced
from the previous displacement field and then from the strainstress relations. It follows
that the transverse shear stresses xzc and yzc are constants through the thickness of the
core. Furthermore, the in-plane stresses xxc , yyc , and xyc are linear functions of the z
coordinate through the thickness of the core. These in-plane stresses are usually neglected.
From the displacement field, it is also deduced that the in-plane stresses xxk ,
yyk , and xyk are constant in each layer k of the skins (lower or upper skin), as well as the
transverse shear stresses xzk and yzk . These transverse shear stresses are usually
neglected. Indeed, the stresses in each layer can be obtained considering a linear variation
as a function of the z coordinate.
Thus, when finite elements based on the theory of sandwich plates are used, finite
element analysis gives (Figure 2) the values of the in-plane stresses xx , yy , xy , in each
layer k of the skins of each finite element e of the structure under consideration:
xxk ,
yyk ,
xyk ,
and the values of the stresses xx, yy, xy, xz, yz, on the lower face (l) and upper face (u)
of the core for each finite element:
xxlc ,
yylc ,
xxuc ,
yyuc ,
xylc ,
xyuc ,
xzlc ,
xzuc ,
yzlc ,
yzuc ,
z
hs2
sxxuc, syyuc, sxyuc, sxzuc, syzuc
element e
hc/2
sxxlc, syylc, sxylc, sxzlc, syzlc

hc/2
k
sxxk, syyk, sxyk
hk
hk1
hs1
Figure 2. Stresses derived from finite element analysis in the layers of the skins and in the core.
1464
M. ASSARAR
ET AL.
with
xzuc xzlc xzc ,
xzuc yzlc yzc :
It follows that the in-plane stresses in the sandwich core can be expressed for the element e as:
e
pc
apc x, yz bpc x, y,
p xx,
yy,
xy,
with
puc plc
,
hc

1
bpc puc plc :
2
apc
The transverse shear stresses in the layers of skins can be expressed considering a linear
variation through the thicknesses of skins, and considering that the shear stresses vanish
on the upper and lower faces of sandwich material and are equal to the transverse shear
stresses in the sandwich core. Thus, we have:
r1 r1 x, yz r1 x, y,
r xz,
yz,
with
r1
rc
,
hs1

hc
r1 rc 1
,
2hs1
for the lower skin, and:

r2 r2 x, yz r2 x, y,
r xz,
yz,
with
r2
rc
,
hs2

hc
r2 rc 1
,
2hs2
for the upper skin of the sandwich material.
In-plane Strain Energy

We consider the case where the layers of the skins and the core of the sandwich material
are constituted of orthotropic materials.
The in-plane energy Ued stored in a given finite element e can be expressed as a function
of the in-plane strain energies related to the orthotropy directions of the materials as:
Ued Ue1 Ue2 Ue6 ,
10
1465
with
ZZZ
1
1 "1 dxdydz,
2
e
ZZZ
1
2 "2 dxdydz,
Ue2
2
ZZZe
1
6 "6 dxdydz,
Ue6
2
e
Ue1
11
where the integrations are extended over the volume of the finite element e.
The energy Ue1 is the strain energy stored in tensioncompression along the 1-direction of
the materials, Ue2 is the strain energy stored in tensioncompression along the 2-direction
of the materials and Ue6 is the strain energy stored in in-plane (plane (1, 2)) shear. (In the
article, the material directions will be denoted by (1, 2, 3) or L, T, T 0 : Next, the stress and
strain subscripts are denoted according to the usual engineering notation.)
The in-plane strains "1 , "2 , and "6 related to the material directions of the core or the
layer k of the skins are expressed as functions of stresses 1 , 2 , and 6 in the material
directions according to the strainstress relations as:
"1 S11 1 S12 2 ,
"2 S12 1 S22 2 ,
12
"6 S66 6 ,
where the components Sij are the compliance constants of the material of core or layer k
related to the engineering moduli EL , ET , GLT , and LT by the following expressions:
S11
1
,
EL
S22
1
,
ET
S12
LT
,
EL
S66
1
:
GLT
13
It follows that Expression (11) of the strain energy Ue1 , stored in tensioncompression in
the longitudinal direction can be written in the form:
Ue1 Ue11 Ue12 ,
14
with:
Ue11
Ue12
ZZZ
1
S11 12 dxdydz,

2
e
ZZZ
1
S12 1 2 dxdydz:
2
e
15
In each layer k or in the core, stresses 1 , 2 , and 6 , related to the material directions, can
be expressed as functions of the in-plane stresses xx , yy , and xy , related to the finite
element directions (x, y, z), according to the stress transformation relation:
32
2 3 2
3
xx
1
cos2
sin2
2 sin cos
4 2 5 4 sin2
16
cos2
2 sin cos 54 yy 5,
xy
6
sin cos sin cos cos2 sin2
where is the orientation of material in layer k or in the core.
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M. ASSARAR
ET AL.
Whence:
Ue11
1
2
ZZZ
e

2
2 2xy
xx yy sin2 cos2
Ue12
h
2
2
S11 xx
cos4 yy
sin4

4xx xy sin cos3 4yy xy sin3 cos dxdydz,
ZZZ
h

1
2
2
2
S12 xx
yy
4xy
sin2 cos2
2
e

xx yy sin4 cos4

2 xx xy yy xy sin2 cos2 sin cos dxdydz:
17
18
In the same way, the strain energy U2, stored in tensioncompression in the transverse
direction can be written in the form:
Ue2 Ue22 Ue12 ,
19
with:
Ue22
ZZZ
h
2
2
S22 xx
sin4 yy
cos4
e

2
2 2xy
xx yy sin2 cos2
1
2

4xx xy sin3 cos 4yy xy sin cos3 dxdydz,
20
Lastly, the in-plane shear strain energy is written as:

Ue6 Ue66
1
2
ZZZ
e
h
2
2
S66 xx
yy
2xx yy sin2 cos2
2
2
cos sin2

2 yy xy xx xy cos2 sin2 sin cos dxdydz:
2
xy
21
The in-plane strain energies stored in the finite element e can be expressed as:
Ue11 Ue11c
Ue12
Ue12c
n
X
Ue11k ,
Ue22 Ue22c
n
X
k1
k1
n
X
n
X
k1
Ue12k ,
Ue66
Ue66c
Ue22k ,
22
Ue66k ,
k1
where Uepqc and Uepqk pq 11, 22, 12, 66 are respectively the in-plane strain energies stored
in the core and layer k of the skins of the element e and n is the total number of layers in
the lower and upper skins.
1467
It follows from Expressions (17)(21) that the in-plane strain energies stored in layer k of
the skins or in the core of the element e can be expressed as:
h
Ue11l S11l Uexxxxl cos4 l Ueyyyyl sin4 l

2 2Uexyxyl Uexxyyl sin2 l cos2 l
i
4Uexxxyl sin l cos3 l 4Ueyyxyl sin3 l cos l ,
Ue12l S12l
23
h

Uexxxxl Ueyyyyl 4Uexyxyl sin2 l cos2 l

Uexxyyl sin4 l cos4 l

i

2 Uexxxyl Ueyyxyl sin2 l cos2 l sin l cos l ,
24
h
Ue22l S22l Uexxxxl sin4 l Ueyyyyl cos4 l

2 2Uexyxyl Uexxyyl sin2 l cos2 l
i
4Uexxxyl sin3 l cos l 4Ueyyxyl sin l cos3 l ,
Ue66l S66l
25
h

Uexxxxl Ueyyyyl 2Uexxyyl sin2 l cos2 l

2
Uexyxyl cos2 l sin2 l

i

2 Uexxxyl Ueyyxyl sin2 l cos2 l sin l cos l ,
26
These expressions introduce the orientation k of layer k of the skins (l k) or the

orientation c of the core (l c). The terms Uepql (p, q xx, yy, xy) are derived by
considering Expressions (1) and (4) for the in-plane stresses in the core and in the layer k of
the skins. We obtain:
for the layer k of the skins (l k):
1
Uepql Uepqk pk qk Se ek ,
2
p,
q xx,
yy,
xy,
27
where Se is the area of the finite element e and ek is the thickness of the layer k;
for the core (l c):
Uepql
Uepqc

1
h2c
apc aqc bpc bqc Se hc ,
2
12
p,
q xx,
yy,
where the coefficients apc , aqc , bpc , and bqc , are given by Expressions (5).
xy,
28
1468
M. ASSARAR
ET AL.
Next, the in-plane strain energy stored in element e is given by Expressions (22) and the
total in-plane strain energies stored in the finite element assemblage is then obtained by
summation on the elements as:
U11
Ue11 ,
elements
U22
U12
Ue12 ,
elements
Ue22 ,
U66
elements
Ue66 :
29
elements
Transverse Shear Strain Energy

The transverse shear strain energy for a given element e can be expressed in the material
directions as:
Ues Ue44 Ue55 ,
30
with
ZZZ
1
4 4 dxdydz,
2
e
ZZZ
1
5 5 dxdydz,
2
e
Ue44
Ue55
31
where the integration is extended over the volume of the finite element e. 4 and 4 are
respectively the transverse shear stress and strain in plane (T, T 0 ) of material in the layer k
of the skins or in the core of sandwich material. 5 and 5 are the transverse shear stress
and strain in plane (L, T 0 ) of the materials.
The transverse shear strains and stresses are related by:
4 GTT 0 4 ,
5 GLT 0 5 ,
32
where GTT 0 and GLT 0 are the transverse shear moduli in planes (T, T 0 ) and (L, T 0 ),
respectively. It results that the transverse shear strain energies (31) can be written as:
Ue44
Ue55
ZZZ
1
2
e
ZZZ
1
2
e
42
dxdydz,
GTT 0
52
dxdydz:
GLT 0
33
In each layer k of the skins or in the core, stresses 4 and 5 , related to material directions
of the layer or the core, can be expressed as functions of the transverse shear stresses
yz and xz in the finite element directions (x, y, z) according to stress transformations:

4
5
cos
sin
sin
cos
yz
:
xz
34
1469
So, the transverse shear strain energies (33) are expressed as:
ZZZ
1
1 2
2
yz cos2 xz
sin2
Ue44
0
2
G
TT
e

2yz xz sin cos dxdydz,
ZZZ
1
1 2
2
yz sin2 xz
cos2
Ue55
2
e GLT 0

2yz xz sin cos dxdydz:
35
36
The transverse shear energies can be expressed as:

Ue44 Ue44c
n
X
Ue44k ,
Ue55 Ue55c
k1
n
X
Ue55k ,
37
k1
where Uersc and Uersk rs 44, 55 are respectively the transverse shear strain energies stored
in the core and layer k of the skins of the element.
It results from Expressions (35) and (36) that the transverse shear strain energies stored
in layer k of the skins or in the core of the element e can be expressed as:

Ueyzyzl cos2 l Uexzxzl sin2 l 2Ueyzxzl sin l cos l ,
GTT 0

1 e
Uyzyzl sin2 l Uexzxzl cos2 l 2Ueyzxzl sin l cos l :

GLT 0
Ue44l
Ue55l
1
38
39
As previously, these expressions introduce the orientation k of layer k of the skins (l k)

or the orientation c of the core (l c). The terms Uersl (r, s yz, xz) are derived by
considering Expressions (2), (6), and (8) of the transverse shear stresses in the core and in
the layer k of the skins. We obtain:
for the core (l c):
1
Uersl Uersc rc sc Se hc ,
2
r, s yz, xz,
40
for the layer k of the skins (l k):

Uersl Uersk

h3 h3k1
1
h2 h2k1
ri si k
ri si hk hk1 Se ;
ri si si ri k
2
3
2
41
r, s = yz, xz, i = 1 for the lower skin and i = 2 for the upper skin,
where the coefficients ri ; si ; ri , and si , are given by Expression (7) for the lower skin
(i 1) and Expression (9) for the lower skin (i 2).
Next, the transverse shear strain energy stored in element e is given by Expressions (37)
and the total transverse strain energies stored in the finite element assemblage is then
obtained by summation on the elements as:
X
X
U44
Ue44 , U55
Ue55 :
42
elements
elements
1470
M. ASSARAR
ET AL.
Damping of a Sandwich Composite Structure

The damping of the finite element assemblage can be evaluated by extending the energy
formulation approach considered in Berthelot [14,15].
The total strain energy stored in the laminated structure is given by:
Ud U11 U22 2U12 U66 U44 U55 ,
43
where the in-plane strain energies U11 , U22 , 2U12 , and U66 are expressed by Equations (29),
and the transverse shear strain energies U44 and U55 are given by Expressions (42).
Then, the energy dissipated by damping in the layer k of the skins or in the core of the
sandwich material of the element e is derived from the strain energy stored in the layer or
in the core as:
Uel
e
e
e
e
e
e
11l U11l 22l U22l 2 12l U12l
e
e
e
e
e
66l U66l 44l U44l 55l Ue55l ,
44
introducing the specific damping coefficients of the layer k of the skins or of the core. These
coefficients are related to the material directions (L, T, T 0 ) of the layer k of the skins (l k)
or of the core (l c): e11l and e22l are the damping coefficients in traction-compression in
the L direction and T direction of the layer k of the skins or of the core, respectively; e12l is
the in-plane coupling coefficient; e66l is the in-plane shear coefficient; e44l and e55l are the
transverse shear damping coefficients in planes (T, T 0 ) and (L, T 0 ), respectively.
The damping energy dissipated in the element e is next obtained by summation on the
core and on the layers of the skins of element e as:
Ue Uec
n
X
Uek ,
45
k1
and the total energy U dissipated in the finite element assemblage is then obtained by
summation on the elements:
U
Ue :
46
elements
Finally, the damping of the finite element assemblage is characterized by the damping
coefficient of the assemblage derived from relation:
U
:
Ud
47
The in-plane coupling energy Ue12 is much lower than the other in-plane energies and can
be neglected.
A general procedure was implemented to evaluate the damping of a sandwich composite
structure using finite element analysis. This procedure is based on the previous
formulation and can be applied to any structure for which the damping characteristics
1471
are different according to the core and the layers of the skins and according to the elements
of the assemblage.
This procedure is applied hereafter to the analysis of the damping of sandwich materials.
The application to a sandwich composite structure is considered in Berthelot et al. [20].
EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF THE DAMPING

OF SANDWICH MATERIALS
Materials
Sandwich materials were constructed with glass fiber laminates as skins and with PVC
closed-cell foams as core.
The glass fiber laminates of the skins are cross-ply laminates consisting of unidirectional
layers of E-glass fibers in an epoxy matrix, arranged in the sequence [08/908/908/08].
The unidirectional layers were fabricated with unidirectional cloth of weight 300 gm2 with
glass fibers aligned in a single direction. The engineering constants of the unidirectional
layers referred to the material directions (L, T, T 0 ) or (1, 2, 3) were measured in static tests
as mean values of 10 tests for each constant. The values obtained are reported in Table 1.
Experimental damping analysis of the laminates is investigated in Berthelot [15], Berthelot
and Sefrani [16], and El Mahi et al. [17] and the values of the loss factors derived from this
analysis are reported in Table 2.
The PVC closed-cell foams were supplied in panels of thickness 15 mm. Three foams
were considered differing in their densities: 60, 80, and 200 kg m3. Mechanical
characteristics of the foams were measured in static tensile tests for the Youngs modulus
and the Poissons ratio, and in static shear tests for the shear modulus. The results
obtained show that the foams are fairly isotropic and the modulus values derived are
reported in Table 3.
Sandwich materials were constructed with these foams and with cross-ply glass-fiber
laminates (fiber volume fraction of 0.40) prepared by hand lay-up process, that leads to a
nominal thickness of 1.2 mm for the sandwich skins. Sandwich plates of different
dimensions were cured at room temperature with pressure using vacuum molding process,
and then post-cured in an oven.
Table 1. Engineering constants of the unidirectional
glass fiber layers.
EL (GPa)
ET (GPa)
LT
GLT (GPa)
7.50
0.24
2.25
29.9
Table 2. Loss factors in the material directions of the

unidirectional glass fiber layers.
f (Hz)
50
300
600
g11 (%)
g12
g22 (%)
g66 (%)
0.35
0.40
0.45
0
0
0
1.30
1.50
1.65
1.80
2.00
2.22
1472
M. ASSARAR
ET AL.
Determination of the Constitutive Damping Parameters

The damping characteristics of the materials were obtained by subjecting sandwich beams
to flexural vibrations. The equipment used is shown in Figure 3(a). The test specimen is
supported horizontally as a cantilever beam in a clamping block. An impulse hammer is
used to induce the excitation of the flexural vibrations of the beam near the clamping block
(Figure 3(b)) and the beam response is detected near the free end of the beam by using a laser
vibrometer. Inducing the excitation in the vicinity of the clamping block leads to a narrow
width impulse excitation, providing a beam response with a high signal-to-noise ratio. Next,
the excitation and the response signals are digitalized and processed by a dynamic analyzer
of signals. This analyzer associated with a PC computer performs the acquisition of signals,
controls the acquisition conditions and next performs the analysis of the signals acquired
(Fourier transform, frequency response, mode shapes, etc.).
Table 3. Mechanical characteristics of the foams.
Density of the
foam (kg m3)
Youngs
modulus (MPa)
Poissons
ratio
Shear
modulus (MPa)
59
83
240
0.42
0.43
0.45
22
30
80
60
80
200
(a)
Impact hammer ICP
PCB 086B03
Laser vibrometer
OFV 302 R
Beam
Clamping block
Signal conditioner OFV

3000
Dynamic analyzer
SigLab 20-22
(b)
x
Measuring point
Impact point
Clamping box
Figure 3. Analysis of beam vibrations: (a) experimental equipment and (b) impact and measuring points.
1473
The flexural beam responses were identified in the frequency domain using a modal
analysis and fitting the experimental frequency responses using MATLAB toolbox. Then,
the identification procedure allows us to obtain the values of the natural frequencies fi and
the modal loss factors i, related to the specific damping coefficient by the relation i 2 i.
Moreover, identification has been implemented between the experimental frequency
responses and the beam responses derived from finite element analysis. This process is the
better way for the identification. However, this process is heavy to implement and was
applied only for some beam responses throughout the present experimental analysis.
Similar results were derived by the two procedures.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Determination of the Dynamic Characteristics of the Foams
TEST SPECIMENS
The experimental investigation of the dynamic properties of the foams has been
implemented according to the experimental process considered in the standard ASTM E
756 [21]. Properties of the foams were evaluated from the flexural vibrations of a clamped
free beam 40 mm wide and constituted of two aluminium beams with foam material
interleaved between the two aluminium beams (Figure 4). An aluminium spacer was added
in the root section which was closely clamped in a rigid fixture. The free length and the
thicknesses of the aluminium beams were selected so as to measure the foam characteristics
on the frequency range [50, 1000 Hz]. Thus, the beam dimensions used were a free length
equal to 300, 350, 400, and 450 mm, with thicknesses of the aluminium beams of 4 mm.
ENERGY STORED IN THE TEST SPECIMENS AND PROCEDURE
Figure 5 shows a typical example of the values of the different strain energies stored in
the foam core of the aluminiumfoam beams for the first mode of the bending vibrations.
These results were obtained using a finite element analysis in the case of a foam of density
60 kg m3 and for a length of the beam equal to 300 mm. The results show that the
longitudinal transverse shear energy is clearly higher than the other energies.
Figure 68 show the evolution of the energies stored in the aluminium beams and in the
foam core as functions of the frequency for the first three modes. The results were obtained
using a finite element analysis in the case of foams of density 60 kg m3 (Figure 6),
80 kg m3 (Figure 7), and 200 kg m3 (Figure 8). The results obtained show that the energy
Clamping block
Foam core
Aluminium core
Aluminium or laminate
skins
Figure 4. Aluminiumfoam beam for determining the dynamic characteristics of the foams.
1474
M. ASSARAR
ET AL.
0.40
Uxz
0.35
Uxy 105
Energy (J)
0.30
0.25
0.20
Uyy 104
0.15
0.10
Uxx 102
Uyz 105
0.05
0.00
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
Frequency (Hz)
Figure 5. Energies stored in the foam core of aluminiumfoam beams for the first mode of the bending
vibrations.
1.0
Energy
0.8
Ucore/Utotal
0.6
Mode 1
Mode 3
Mode 2
0.4
Uskins/Utotal
0.2
0.0
0
200
400
600
800
1000
Frequency (Hz)
Figure 6. Energies stored in the aluminium beams and in the foam core as functions of the frequency for the
first three modes, in the case of foam density of 60 kg m3.
stored in the foam cores is higher than the energy stored in the aluminium beams, except
for the first mode of the beams with a foam core of 200 kg m3.
Damping of aluminium was deduced from the flexural vibrations of aluminium beams.
The results obtained show a fairly linear variation of the loss factor from 0.22% to 0.32%
in the frequency domain of investigation [50, 1000 Hz].
From the preceding results, it follows that it would be possible to consider only the
longitudinal transverse shear energy stored in the foam cores. In fact, the shear modulus
and the damping of the foams were deduced by fitting the experimental frequency
responses of the aluminiumfoam beams with the results deduced from the modeling
considered in Estimation of the Damping of Sandwich Composite Materials and
1475

1.0
Ucore/Utotal
Energy
0.8
0.6
Mode 1
Mode 2
Mode 3
0.4
Uskins/Utotal
0.2
0.0
0
200
400
600
800
1000
Frequency (Hz)
1.0
0.8
Energy
Ucore/Utotal
0.6
Mode 2
Mode 3
0.4
Uskins/Utotal
Mode 1
0.2
0.0
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
Frequency (Hz)
Structures section introducing the damping of aluminium. Furthermore, it has been noted
(Materials section) that the foams were isotropic. So, in the investigation of the dynamic
properties it was considered that the Youngs modulus and the shear modulus of foams
were related by the usual relation of isotropic material:
G
E
,
21
48
with a Poisson ratio independent of the frequency and equal to the values determined in
static tests (Table 3).
1476
M. ASSARAR
ET AL.
Dynamics Characteristics of the Foams

Figures 9 and 10 report the results obtained for the shear modulus (Figure 9) and the
loss factors (Figure 10) as functions of the frequency for the three densities of the foams:
60, 80, and 200 kg m3. These results are deduced from the experimental investigation and
finite element analysis according to the procedure described previously. In the frequency
range studied, it is observed (Figure 9) a fairly linear variation of the shear modulus as
function of the logarithm of the frequency. The shear modulus increases clearly with the
foam density: the shear modulus is multiplied by about 4 when the foam density is
increased from 60 to 200 kg m3. In contrast, the results of Figure 10 show that the foam
140
200 kg m3
Shear modulus (MPa)
120
100
80
60
80 kg m3
40
60 kg m3
20
10
100
1000
10000
Frequency (Hz)
Figure 9. Shear modulus of foams as function of frequency deduced from experimental investigation and
finite element analysis.
7
6
Loss factor i (%)
5
4
60 kg m3
80 kg m3
200 kg m3
2
1
0
0
150
300
450
600
750
900
1050
1200
Frequency (Hz)
Figure 10. Damping of foams as function of frequency deduced from experimental investigation and finite
element analysis.
1477
damping is not overly dependent on the foam density. The foam damping decreases with
the frequency according to a general property of viscoelastic materials.
So, the variation of the shear modulus of the foams as function of the frequency can be
expressed in the linear form:
Gc A B log f,
Gc MPa,
fHz,
49
where the values of the parameters A and B depend on the density of the foams. The values
are reported in Table 4.
Analysis of the Damping of Sandwich Materials

INTRODUCTION
Investigation of damping was implemented in the case of sandwich materials considered
in Materials section. The experimental investigation was carried out in the case of flexural
vibrations of clampedfree beams with the same conditions as the ones considered in the
analysis of the foam properties (Determination of the Dynamic Characteristics of the
Foams section). An aluminium spacer was added in the root section which was closely
clamped in a rigid fixture. The free length of the beams was equal to 300, 350, 400, and
450 mm, and the beam width was equal to 40 mm.
The experimental results obtained are compared with the results deduced from the
modeling developed in Estimation of the Damping of Sandwich Composite Materials and
Structures section. This analysis takes account of the variations of the shear modulus and
damping of foam core as functions of the frequency (Figures 9 and 10), as well as the
variation of the damping of the unidirectional layers of the skins (Table 2).
MODE SHAPES
The shapes of the modes 16 deduced from finite element analysis are reported in
Figure 11 for the free flexural modes of the sandwich beams, in the case of a beam length
of 350 mm and a density of 60 kg m3 of the foam core. The corresponding frequencies of
the modes are also reported. Numerical results for these frequencies are similar to the
experimental results. Beam twisting is observed for the modes 2 and 4. Because of
the position of the measuring point (Figure 3(b)), these modes are not really observed in
the experimental investigation. So, the analysis implemented hereafter considers only the
four bending modes 1, 3, 5, and 6.
DAMPING OF SANDWICH MATERIALS
Figure 12 compares the results deduced from the experimental investigation and
from modeling for the sandwich materials, in the case of core with foams of 60, 80,
Table 4. Values of the parameters of the variation of the shear
modulus of the foams as functions of the foam density.
Foam density (kg m3)
60
80
200
6.58
5.28
4.17
3.70
5.56
17.8
1478
M. ASSARAR
ET AL.
Mode 2 (151 Hz)
Mode 1 (80 Hz)
Mode 3 (363 Hz)
Mode 4 (398 Hz)
Mode 5 (785 Hz)
Mode 6 (1207 Hz)
Figure 11. Free flexural modes of sandwich beams, for a length of 350 mm of the beams and a density of
60 kg m3 of the foam core.
and 200 kg m3. The comparison shows a good agreement between the experimental
results and the results deduced from modeling. This agreement underlines that the
modeling considered is well suited to describe the damping of sandwich materials
constituted of a foam core and laminated skins.
Furthermore, it is observed that damping as function of the frequency is discontinuous
from one mode to the other, due to a change of the distribution of the strain energies in the
beam volume according to the vibration mode. Damping of sandwich materials increases
when the density of the core foam decreases, so when the shear modulus of the foam
decreases, for a given mode. Also, for a given mode and foam density, damping of
sandwich materials decreases when the frequency increases, that is associated to the
1479

Mode 1
Mode 3
Mode 4
Mode 2
1.3
Loss factor i (%)
1.2
1.1
1.0
0.9
0.8
0.7
Experiment
0.6
60 kg m3
80 kg m3
200 kg m3
Modeling
0.5
0
400
800
1200
1600
2000
2400
Frequency (Hz)
Figure 12. Comparison between the results deduced from experiment and modeling for the damping of
sandwich beams of lengths 300, 350, 400, and 450 mm, in the case of core with foams of 60, 80, and
200 kg m3.
increase of the shear modulus of the foam as function of the frequency (Figure 9) as well as
the decrease of the foam damping with the frequency (Figure 10).
The evolution of the damping of the sandwich materials from one mode to the other
depends in fact on different factors such as the distribution of the strain energy between
the skins and the foam core, the variation of the shear modulus of the foam as function of
the frequency (Figure 9), the variation of the foam damping (Figure 10) and the variation
of the layer damping with frequency (Table 2). The influence of these different factors is
considered in the following section.
CHARACTERISTIC FACTORS OF THE DAMPING

OF SANDWICH MATERIALS
Influence of the Foam Core Shear Modulus
For a given damping of the foam core, one of the principal factors which govern the
damping of sandwich materials is the shear modulus of the foam core. Figure 13 shows the
results derived from a finite element analysis for the damping of sandwich materials as a
function of the value of the shear modulus of the foam core, in the case of the two first
modes of the sandwich beams of lengths 300, 350, 400, and 450 mm. The damping
considered in the analysis for the foam core is deduced from the results reported in
Figure 10. Indeed, the foam damping is fairly similar when the shear modulus of the foam
is increased. The results of Figure 13 clearly show that an increase of the shear modulus of
the foam core yields a significant decrease of the damping of sandwich materials: when the
shear modulus is multiplied by 8, the sandwich damping is divided by a factor about 4 for
the first mode and about 3 for the second mode.
1480
M. ASSARAR
ET AL.
Mode 2
Mode 1
2.2
2.0
G = 10 MPa
Loss factor i (%)
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
G = 20 MPa
1.0
G = 30 MPa
0.8
G = 80 MPa
0.6
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
Frequency (Hz)
Figure 13. Influence of the shear modulus of the foam core on the damping of sandwich materials, for the
first two modes of sandwich beams of lengths 300, 350, 400, and 450 mm.
For a given mode and shear modulus of the foam core, damping of sandwich materials
decreases when the frequency increases, then when the length of the sandwich beams is
increased. This result can be associated with a decrease of the part of the transverse shear
strain energy stored in the foam core.
The variation of the damping from one mode to the other is associated to the
distribution of the strain energies in the skins and the core. Elements on this aspect are
considered in the following subsections.
Energies Dissipated in the Core and Skins

Figures 14, 15, and 16 report the energies dissipated in the core and in the skins for the
first four modes of the bending vibrations of the sandwich beams of lengths 300, 350, 400,
and 450 mm, in the case of foam cores of density 60, 80, and 200 kg m3, respectively.
These results were derived from finite element modeling.
For the densities of the foam core equal to 60 and 80 kg m3, the energy dissipated in the
foam core is clearly higher than the energy dissipated in the skins. Also, it is observed an
increase of the energy dissipated in the foam core and a decrease of the energy dissipated in
the skins when the frequency increases as well as the mode number increases. This
behavior can be associated to the dominant effect of the transverse shear in the foam core,
which results from the low values of the shear modulus of the foam core and which
increases with the mode because of the mode shape.
In contrast, for the density of 200 kg m3 of the foam core, the energy dissipated in the
foam core increases with the frequency and the mode number, when the energy dissipated
in the skins decreases. Moreover, the energy dissipated in the foam core is smaller for the
modes 1 and 2 and higher for the mode 4. For this foam density the value of the shear
modulus is high, and the results observed can be associated with two different elements:
1481

1.0
Dissipated energy
0.8
Ucore/Utotal
0.6
Mode 1
Mode 2
Mode 3
Mode 4
0.4
Uskins/Utotal
0.2
0.0
0
200
400
600
800 1000 1200 1400 1600

Frequency (Hz)
1800
Figure 14. Energies dissipated in the core and in the skins for the first four modes of the bending vibrations of
the sandwich beams of lengths 300, 350, 400, and 450 mm, in the case of a foam core of density 60 kg m3.
1.0
Dissipated energies
0.8
Ucore/Utotal
0.6
Mode 1 Mode 2
Mode 3
Mode 4
0.4
Uskins/Utotal
0.2
0.0
0
200
400
600
800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800

Frequency (Hz)
the distribution of the energy in the core and skins according to the modes, and the
increase of the shear modulus as function of the frequency. For the modes 1 and 2, the
transverse deformation of the foam core is less pronounced than for the mode 4, which
yields, with a high value of the shear modulus of the foam core, a low energy dissipated in
the foam core.
The preceding effect according to the mode shape is also underlined when we consider the
evolution of the energies dissipated as a function of the ratio of the core thickness to the skin
thickness (Figure 17). In this figure, the dissipated energies derived from finite element
1482
M. ASSARAR
ET AL.
analysis are reported for the first three modes of the bending vibrations of sandwich beams
of 350 mm long and a foam density of 60 kg m3. The skins of the beams are [0/90]s cross-ply
laminates. It is observed that the energy dissipated in the core increases with the thickness of
the foam core. For the first mode, the energy dissipated in the skins is higher than the energy
dissipated in the foam core for low values of core thickness: values of core thickness smaller
than about four times the skin thicknesses. Also, the energy dissipated in the foam core
increases when the mode number increases, which shows clearly that the part of the
transverse shear energy dissipated in the foam core increases with the mode number. This
effect is induced by the shapes of the vibration mode.
0.8
Dissipated energies
0.7
Uskins/Utotal
Ucore/Utotal
0.6
Mode 1
Mode 2
0.5
Mode 3
Mode 4
0.4
Uskins/Utotal
Ucore/Utotal
0.3
0.2
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
Frequency (Hz)
0.9
0.8
Mode 3
Ucore/Utotal
Dissipated energies
0.7
Mode 2
0.6
0.5
Mode 1
0.4
Mode 2
0.3
Uskins/Utotal
Mode 3
0.2
0.1
10
15
20
25
30
Thickness ratio hcore/hskins
Figure 17. Energies dissipated in the core and in the skins for the first three modes of the bending vibrations
of sandwich beams of lengths 350 mm as functions of the ratio of core and skins thicknesses, in the case of a
foam core of density 60 kg m3 and (0/90)s skins.
1483
Effect of the Core Thickness on the Damping of Sandwich Materials

Figure 18 shows the evolution of the damping of the sandwich materials as function of
the thickness of the foam core, for a foam density of 60 kg m3. Two different evolutions
of the loss factors as functions of the frequency according to the foam thickness are
observed: for thicknesses of the foam core of 3.5, 5, and 7.5 mm, the loss factor increases as
function of the frequency (Figure 18(a)), when the loss factor decreases for thicknesses of
the core higher or equal to 10 mm (Figure 18(b)). These two different behaviors can be
associated to the evolution of the distribution of the energies dissipated in the core and
skins as function of the core thickness. For low values of the core thickness, the effect of
the damping of the skins is dominant and the increase of the damping of the skin layers
(a) 1.2
Mode 1
Loss factor i (%)
1.1
1.0
Mode 2
0.9
0.8
3.5 mm
Core thickness
5 mm
0.7
0.6
7.5 mm
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
Frequency
(b) 1.4
Core thickness
Loss factor i (%)
1.3
10 mm
15 mm
20 mm
25 mm
30 mm
1.2
1.1
1.0
Mode 2
Mode 1
0.9
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
Frequency (Hz)
Figure 18. Evaluation of the damping of the sandwich beams of lengths 300, 350, 400 and 450 mm, for
various thicknesses of the foam core, in the case of (0/90)s cross-ply laminate skins and a foam density of
60 kg m3: (a) thickness core smaller than 7.5 mm and (b) thickness core higher than 10 mm.
1484
M. ASSARAR
ET AL.
with frequency (Table 2) induces an increase of the resultant damping of the sandwich
materials. For high values of the skin thicknesses, the effect of the damping of foam core is
dominant and the increase of the shear modulus of the foam with the frequency (Figure 9)
as well as the decrease of the foam damping (Figure 10) lead to a decrease of the damping
of the sandwich materials as function of the frequency.
CONCLUSIONS
An evaluation of the damping of sandwich materials fabricated with a foam core and
laminated skins was presented based on the theory of sandwich plates and a finite element
analysis of the vibrations of a composite structure. The analysis derives the strain energies
stored in the material directions of the foam core and in the material directions of the
layers of the skins. Next, the energy dissipated by damping in the structure can be obtained
as a function of the strain energies and the damping coefficients associated with the
different energies stored in the material directions of the core and of the layers of the skins.
Damping characteristics of laminates were evaluated experimentally using beam
specimens subjected to an impulse input. The flexural beam responses were identified in
the frequency domain, and the identification procedure allows us to obtain the values of
the natural frequencies and the modal loss factors.
Dynamic properties of the foams of different densities were first measured using free
clamped beams constituted of two aluminium beams with foam material interleaved
between the two aluminium beams. The experimental investigation shows a significant
increase of the shear modulus of the foams associated with a decrease in the loss factors as
functions of the frequency, depending of the foam density. These variations as functions of
the frequency have to be considered in the analysis of the damping of the sandwich
materials.
Next, modeling was applied to the analysis of the dynamic properties of sandwich
materials constructed from the foams for core and glass [0/90]s cross-ply laminates for
skins. The comparison between the results deduced from the experimental investigation
and the results derived from the analysis shows that the method describes the damping
properties of the foam sandwich materials with a fair degree of agreement.
Furthermore, modeling allows us to underline the characteristic factors which govern
the damping of sandwich materials. The principal parameters are the shear modulus of the
foam core and the ratio of the core thickness to the thickness of the skins. Also, modeling
clearly shows the effect of the distribution of the energies dissipated in the foam core and
in the skins on the damping of the sandwich materials. Damping is more dependent on the
energy dissipated in the skins for the first mode when damping depends essentially on the
energy dissipated in the foam core for the other modes. This effect results from the shape
of the modes, which induce a higher transverse shear deformation of the core for modes of
higher order.
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Errata
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