Experimental study on resin pin-reinforced marine sandwich composites under quasi-static indentation load

This study aims to experimentally examine the indentation behaviour of marine sandwich composites with pin-reinforced polyvinyl chloride foam core and E-glass face sheets. The effects of indenter diameter, resin pin diameter, and arrangement on force-displacement, maximum contact force, and absorbed energy values of sandwich panels were evaluated by the indentation tests. Throughout the experiments, the contact forces increased as the pin diameter increased. The contact forces reduced as the distance between pin diameters increased. Additionally, the values of absorbed energy increased as the diameters of the resin pin and indenter increased. Placing the pins more closely together additionally allows the material to absorb more energy in the event of indentation. A visual inspection took place on the post-indentation cross-sections of the sandwich specimens to detect any damage modes. Damage modes varied depending on the size of the indenter and the hole pattern in the foam core.