Design and Analysis of Luffa Fiber Natural Composite-Foam Core Sandwich for Aerospace Application

Abstract: A Sandwich structure is a type of composite consists of two or more separated components with different material properties, which together constitute a high performance material. The sandwich structure has a discrete structure in which the base material is glued and covered with a surface material. The material has high compressive and shear strength. When bounded to each other, this combination provides a high flexural modulus of the sandwich structure. Here a Luffa fiber and epoxy resin natural composite using compression moulding is fabricated to find the mechanical properties of a composite laminate. As per ASTM standard UTM tests and point bending test conducted to assess the tensile and bending strength. A sandwich structure is fabricated using luffa fiber natural composite as a face materials and polyurethane foam as a core. The sandwich structures are tested for its bending and shear strengths as per the ASTM standards. The experimental results are validated using the Numerical analysis done by ANSYS. The results are more favorable for the aircraft applications.