Cylindrical Sandwich Shells for Civil Engineering Applications

Literature is not abundant in terms of the mechanical characterization of cylindrical shells for civil engineering applications, especially in terms of impact response. Therefore, this study intends to analyze the impact response of cylindrical sandwich shells incorporating different types of fibers. Three different configurations were considered (6C, 2C+2B+2C, and 2C+2G+2C), where the “number” represents the number of layers used and C= Carbon fibers, B = Basalt fibers, and G = Glass fibers. All configurations were tested for their static and impact strength. It was concluded that the constituents of the cylindrical sandwich shells are determinants in both static and impact strength. In terms of static performance, cylindrical shells produced only with carbon fibers are responsible for the highest compressive strength (873 N) and stiffness (354 N/mm), while the displacement is the lowest (4.4 mm). However, the incorporation of basalt fibers decreased these properties to the lowest values, and reductions of 22% and 44% were found for the compressive strength and stiffness, respectively, while the displacement increased around 66%. On the other hand, in terms of impact, significant benefits were achieved with the introduction of glass fibers. For example, the elastic recuperation was 25% and 64.6% higher than that obtained for the 6C and 2C+2B+2C configurations, respectively.