Author : Vinay B. Ugale, Prashant Kumar and K. K. Singh

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.

Keywords: Sandwich panel, Monocoque structure, Impact loading, Delamination, Flexural strength