Experimental study of the bending properties and deformation analysis of web-reinforced composite sandwich floor slabs with four simply supported edges

Web-reinforced composite sandwich panels exhibit good mechanical properties in one-way bending, but few studies have investigated their flexural behavior and deformation calculation methods under conditions of four simply supported edges. This paper studies the bending performance of and deformation calculation methods for two-way web-reinforced composite sandwich panels with different web spacing and heights. Polyurethane foam, two-way orthogonal glass-fiber woven cloth and unsaturated resin were used as raw materials in this study. Vacuum infusion molding was used to prepare an ordinary composite sandwich panel and 5 web-reinforced composite sandwich panels with different spacing and web heights. The panels were subjected to two-way panel bending tests with simple support for all four edges. The mechanical properties of these sandwich panels during the elastic stage were determined by applying uniformly distributed loads. The non-linear mechanical characteristics and failure modes were obtained under centrally concentrated loading. Finally, simulations of the sandwich panels, which used the mechanical model established herein, were used to deduce the formulae for the deflection deformation for this type of sandwich panel. The experimental results show that webs can significantly improve the limit bearing capacity and flexural rigidity of sandwich panels, with smaller web spacing producing a stronger effect. When the web spacing is 75 mm, the limit bearing capacity is 4.63 times that of an ordinary sandwich panel. The deduced deflection calculation formulae provide values that agree well with the measurements (maximum error <15%). The results that are obtained herein can provide a foundation for the structural design of this type of panel.