Composites

Honeycomb Panels

Index:
What is composite ? Honey comb panels Honeycomb Vs Solid metal Honeycomb core materials Honeycomb core Shapes Honeycomb Core Manufacturing processes Design Features Edge filling of Panels Spliced core seams Inserts in Honeycomb Panels Honeycomb Panels bending Honeycomb Panels on CNC machine

What is Composite?
Combination of 2 or more materials Each of the materials must exist more than 5% The properties shown by the composite materials are differed from the initial materials Can be produced by various processing techniques

Honeycomb
Composite honeycomb is a material used as a core material in Sandwich structured composite structures. A sandwich structured composite is a special class of composite materials that is fabricated by attaching two thin but stiff skins to a lightweight but thick core. The core material is normally low strength material, but its higher thickness provides the sandwich composite with high bending stiffness with overall low density. Composite honeycomb takes its name from its visual resemblance to a bee's honeycomb.

Honeycomb Vs Solid Metal

Honeycomb Core Materials

Core materials of honeycomb type have been developed and used mainly in aerospace applications Honeycomb cores can be manufactured in a variety of cell shapes but the most commonly used shape is the hexagonal Others are square, over-expanded hexagonal, flex-core, OX-Core, Tube-Core. Over-expanded and flex-core are mainly used when the core needs to be curved in the manufacturing of the sandwich element
Honeycomb Material are available in Balsa wood Polystyrene foam (Styrofoam) PVC foam Polyurethane foam Polymethacrylimide foam (Rohacell) Aluminum Alloy Honeycomb Carbon, Glass and Aramid fabric honeycomb

Aluminium alloy honeycomb Extensivly used in aerospace applications during the past decades They are commonly made of the aluminium alloys 5052, 5056, and 2024 5052 is a general purpose alloy, 5056 a high strength version of 5052 and 2024 a heat treated aluminium alloy with good properties even at elevated temperature The 5052 and 5056 alloy honeycombs can be used in environments up to 180C and the 2024 up to 210C.

Kraft paper honeycombs Manufactured by impregnating paper with resin to make it water resistant This provides cheap, but still mechanically very good sandwich core Some manufacturers can even fill the cells of Kraft paper honeycomb with a light weight foam (usually PUR or phenolic) for improved thermal insulation

Non-metallic honeycomb Similar to fibre-reinforced plastics but with honeycomb shape Produced by impregnating a pre-fabricated cell-shaped fabric in a bath of resin Different honeycombs are available with glass, aramid or even carbon fibre fabric reinforcement The matrix which the fabric is impregnated with usually phenolic, heat resistant phenolic, polyimide or polyester Phenolic impregnated have maximum working temperature up to 180C, polyimide 250C, polyester 80C

A well-known type of fibre-impregnated honeycomb is made of NOMEX paper, which is an aramid fibre based fabric expanded in much the same way as aluminium alloy honeycomb before being coated with resin It is widely used because of its high toughness and damage resistance and since it has almost as high mechanical properties as aluminium alloy honeycomb. Nomex honeycomb can be used up to 180C at which its strength still approximately 75% of its room temperature value

Honeycomb Core Shapes

Hexagonal Core

OX-Core

Flex-Core

Double-Flex

Tube-Core

Honeycomb Core Manufacturing

Corrugate process
The manufacturing of metal honeycombs is performed in two different ways: Corrugating and expansion processes Corrugating implies that pre-corrugated metal sheets are bonded together and stacked into blocks

Expansion process
The expansion process begins with the stacking of thin plane sheets of web material on which adhesive nodes have been printed By stacking many thin layers in this way a block is made When the adhesive has cured it may be expanded by pulling in the W-direction until a desired cell shape has been achieved

HOBE: HOneycomb Before Expansion

Honeycomb starts out as flat strips of material, or ribbons. Strips of adhesive are placed on the ribbons in a staggered pattern Next, the sheets are stacked together and cured. Once cured, the blocks are cut to the desired thickness, and then the ribbons are pulled apart or expanded to form honeycomb.

Fully expanded honeycomb forms the familiar hexagon shape. The expansion can be stopped before the hexes are fully formed (underexpanded core) or stopped after the hexes are fully formed (overexpanded or OX core). OX-core cells actually look more like rectangles than I have drawn here.

Special manufacturing process for Honeycomb Core

3-Dimensional Honeycomb Core Manufacturing

Design features
Cabin interior components, manufactured from sandwich composites, show design features, e.g. Edge filling spliced core seams inserts certain edge formation (ditch & pot folding technology)

Typically, these features just cover a small percentage of the component volume or of the component surface.

Edge filling
sandwich panel

prepreg

core filler
Typically, hot curing systems; application prior to sandwich curing.

honeycomb core The core filler mechanically protects component edges.

Edges are shaped by cutting or milling. Typically applied for flat components with simple edge geometries (partitions, cabinet walls, ...). 5...15 mm ( 0.2... 0.6 inch)

Sketches are not true to scale.

Spliced core seams

Core splicing adhesive
Typically, hot curing systems; application prior to sandwich curing.

honeycomb core

The adhesive bonds sheets of honeycomb core (prior to curing of the sandwich.
Typically applied for large components, which cant be manufactured from one single sheet of honeycomb core. 6...15 mm (0.2... 0.6 inch)
(max. double core width)

Sketches are not true to scale.

Insert in Honeycomb Panels

sandwich panel

prepreg honeycomb core (NOMEX) metallic insert

serves as fixation/ attachment point

core filler

The core filler serves as an adhesive to cement the insert into the sandwich.
Typically: hot curing systems; application prior to sandwich curing. max. 30 mm/ 1.2 inches

max. 50 mm/ 2 inches

Sketches are not true to scale.

Honeycomb Panels Bending

sandwich

Typically, the production method creates an angeled component.

cut/mill a ditch

apply adhesive

bend & cure

Sketches are not true to scale.

Honeycomb panels on CNC machine CNC Machine

Input Drawing

Ready for CNC A cut

Nested CNC A Cut

Please see video Nested_Acut

Edge filling

Honeycomb Panel ready for CNC B cut

Nested CNC B Cut

Please see video Nested_Bcut

CNC B cut

Thank you