Development of FRP Sandwich Panels for Outer Body of Boat

Abstract

Polymeric composites are usually used in the monocoque form for making outer body of boat. In this form, the material becomes expensive and the laminas of the middle portion near the neutral plane are not used to their full strength. To make better use of material and to have light weight structures, thin sandwich panels (TSPs) are being developed for the outer body of boat. TSPs are fabricated by vacuum bagging technique. TSPs are characterised under drop weight impact test and three point bend test. Thin sandwich panels (TSPs) fabricated by vacuum bagging technique using Coremat XM foam show better impact resistance and flexural strength (360 MPa). V-Gg/XM panels are suitable for boat outer body applications. The average overall damage area of V- Gg/XM, V- Gg/Xi and V- Gg/J panels was 418 mm², 651 mm² and 134 mm² respectively at 6J impact energy. It was increased to 805 mm², 840 mm² and 623 mm² for V- Gg/XM, V- Gg/Xi and V- Gg/J panels respectively at 12 J impact energy.