Bending and compressive properties of ultralight carbon fiber honeycomb sandwich beams via stretching process

Due to excellent thermal stability and high specific strength, there are high requirements for all-carbon fiber composite honeycomb sandwich structure (ACFH) in the field of space observation, especially as the support of space telescope and satellite antenna. However, there are few studies on the mechanical properties of ultra-low density ACFH (ρ < 50 kg/m³). Based on the stretching process, the ultra-low density curved-wall ACFH is prepared, and its three-point bending performance and in-plane compression performance are deeply studied by means of theoretical and experimental methods. The interaction and competition mechanism of various failure modes were primarily revealed based on the failure mechanism map. In addition, the mechanical properties of specimens prepared through stretching process were tested and analyzed. The research results shows that the theoretical prediction and experimental testing agree very well in terms of failure modes and ultimate loads. Finally, some suggestions for improving the mechanical properties of ultra-low density ACFH are given, which lays the solid foundation for its application in advanced engineering fields.