On using corrugated skins to carry shear in sandwich beams

A simplified approach is used to study the potential of using a corrugated skin in a sandwich to carry shear loads. Shear carrying capability is a major requirement for ship bottom panels, among other structures. The simplifications in the paper are quite major and in particular the corrugated skin is modeled as a conventional material with a homogenized stiffness. The goal of the paper is to point out some of the potentials as well as limitations of using a corrugated skin to carry shear loads. The major analysis tool was finite elements, although some analytical analyses were also performed. It was found that the introduction of a corrugated skin provided improved shear carrying capability and offered weight savings, particularly for heavily loaded sandwich beams. Alternative methods to increase shear strength were briefly reviewed.