Sandwich honeycomb core materials are used extensively in energy absorption applications, due to their ability to sustain compressive loading while being crushed. Proper design of energy absorption devices utilizing sandwich honeycomb core materials requires knowledge of the compressive crush stress and crush stroke properties of the honeycomb core material.

The procedures contained within this standard are intended to assess the crush stress and crush stroke properties of the sandwich honeycomb core material under static compressive loading. The dynamic crush stress of the honeycomb core material may vary from that measured under static loading, depending upon factors such as honeycomb core material thickness, core material density, impact velocity, etc.

This test method provides a standard method of obtaining the compressive crush stress and crush stroke for sandwich honeycomb core material structural design properties, material specifications, research and development applications, and quality assurance.

This test method is not intended for use in crush testing of stabilized honeycomb core materials (for which the facing plane surfaces of the honeycomb core material are dipped in resin to resist local crushing) or sandwich specimens (for which facings are bonded to the honeycomb core material).

Factors that influence the compressive crush stress and crush stroke and shall therefore be reported include the following: honeycomb core material, methods of material fabrication, core material geometry (nominal cell size), core material density, specimen geometry, specimen preparation, specimen conditioning, environment of testing, specimen alignment, pre-crush procedure, pre-crush depth, loading procedure, and speed of testing.

1. Scope

1.1 This test method determines the static energy absorption properties (compressive crush stress and crush stroke) of honeycomb sandwich core materials. These properties are usually determined for design purposes in a direction normal to the plane of facings as the honeycomb core material would be placed in a structural sandwich construction.

1.2 Permissible core materials are limited to those in honeycomb form.

1.3 This test method is not intended for use in crush testing of stabilized honeycomb core materials (for which the facing plane surfaces of the honeycomb core material are dipped in resin to resist local crushing) or sandwich specimens (for which facings are bonded to the honeycomb core material).

1.4 The values stated in either SI units or inch-pound units are to be regarded separately as standard. The values stated in each system may not be exact equivalents; therefore, each system shall be used independently of the other. Combining values from the two systems may result in non-conformance with the standard.

1.4.1 Within the text the inch-pound units are shown in brackets.

1.5 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

2. Referenced Documents (purchase separately) The documents listed below are referenced within the subject standard but are not provided as part of the standard.

ASTM Standards

C271/C271M Test Method for Density of Sandwich Core Materials

C274 Terminology of Structural Sandwich Constructions

D883 Terminology Relating to Plastics

D3878 Terminology for Composite Materials

D5229/D5229M Test Method for Moisture Absorption Properties and Equilibrium Conditioning of Polymer Matrix Composite Materials

E4 Practices for Force Verification of Testing Machines

E6 Terminology Relating to Methods of Mechanical Testing

E18 Test Methods for Rockwell Hardness of Metallic Materials

E122 Practice for Calculating Sample Size to Estimate, With Specified Precision, the Average for a Characteristic of a Lot or Process

E177 Practice for Use of the Terms Precision and Bias in ASTM Test Methods

E456 Terminology Relating to Quality and Statistics

E1309 Guide for Identification of Fiber-Reinforced Polymer-Matrix Composite Materials in Databases

E1434 Guide for Recording Mechanical Test Data of Fiber-Reinforced Composite Materials in Databases

E1471 Guide for Identification of Fibers, Fillers, and Core Materials in Computerized Material Property Databases

Keywords

core material; crush stress; crush stroke; flatwise compression; honeycomb; sandwich; Energy absorption; Honeycomb core materials; Sandwich core materials

ICS Code

ICS Number Code 83.140.99 (Other rubber and plastic products)

Citing ASTM Standards

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