Mechanics of discontinuous ceramic tile core sandwich structure: Influence of thermal and interlaminar stresses

The stress states in a discontinuous ceramic tile core sandwich structure due to mechanical and thermal loading are investigated. The influence of coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatch between the tile and face sheet layer on the in-plane and interlaminar stresses in the sandwich structure is evaluated. The factors affecting the interlaminar stresses in the structure are of particular interest. The influence of an adhesive layer between the face sheet and core on the effective properties of the sandwich is also discussed. A study is performed to evaluate tailoring of the adhesive properties to reduce interlaminar stresses for increased durability. A parametric study is performed to study how various geometric parameters such as tile and adhesive layer thickness affect the effective properties (e.g. axial modulus and CTE). Failure of the discontinuous core sandwich structure under in-plane tension loading is analyzed. It is observed that thermal property mismatch in the structure can significantly reduce the failure loads for the tile layer. Finally, failure of the sandwich corresponding to various failure modes is discussed.