Indentation study of foam sandwich structures reinforced by fiber columns

Static indentation responses of foam sandwich beams and plates reinforced by fiber columns are investigated experimentally and theoretically. Based on the superposition principle, a new model is established for predicting the indentation response of sandwich beams. It should be pointed out that this model does not need to calculate the strain energy stored in the structure, which is usually difficult to be determined. For traditional foam sandwich beams and foam sandwich beams reinforced by fiber columns, the analytical predictions of indentation behaviors well agree with experimental measures. Furthermore, the analytical solution of indentation response of foam sandwich plate reinforced by fiber columns is derived by the principle of minimum energy and is compared well with experimental results.