Wood can be described as ‘nature’s honeycomb’, as it has a structure that, on a microscopic scale, is similar to the cellular hexagonal structure of synthetic honeycomb. When used in a sandwich structure with the grain running perpendicular to the plane of the skins, the resulting component shows properties similar to those made with man-made honeycombs. However, despite various chemical treatments being available, all wood cores are susceptible to moisture attack and will rot if not well surrounded by laminate or resin.
Balsa
The most commonly used wood core is end-grain balsa. Balsa wood cores first appeared in the 1940’s in flying boat hulls, which were aluminium skinned and balsa-cored to withstand the repeated impact of landing on water. This performance led the marine industry to begin using end-grain balsa as a core material in FRP construction. Apart from its high compressive properties, its advantages include being a good thermal insulator offering good acoustic absorption. The material will not deform when heated and acts as an insulating and ablative layer in a fire, with the core charring slowly, allowing the non-exposed skin to remain structurally sound. It also offers positive flotation and is easily worked with simple tools and equipment.
Balsa core is available as contoured end-grain sheets 3 to 50mm thick on a backing fabric, and rigid end-grain sheets up to 100mm thick. These sheets can be provided ready resin-coated for vacuum-bagging, prepreg or pressure-based manufacturing processes such as RTM. One of the disadvantages of balsa is its high minimum density, with 100kg/m3 being a typical minimum. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that balsa can absorb large quantities of resin during lamination, although pre-sealing the foam can reduce this. Its use is therefore normally restricted to projects where optimum weight saving is not required or in locally highly stressed areas.
Cedar
Another wood that is used sometimes as a core material is cedar. In marine construction it is often the material used as the ‘core’ in strip-plank construction, with a composite skin on each side and the grain of the cedar running parallel to the laminate faces. The cedar fibres run along the length of the boat giving fore and aft stiffness while the fibres in the FRP skins are laid at ±45° giving torsional rigidity, and protecting the wood.
Published courtesy of David Cripps, Gurit
