Polymer Testing 67 (2018) 284–294

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Polymer Testing
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/polytest

Mechanical characterization of natural nano-structured zeolite/ T

polyurethane filled 3D woven glass fiber composite sandwich panels
Hamid Safari, Mehdi Karevan, Hassan Nahvi∗
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, 8415683111, Iran

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: 3D woven glass fibers sandwich panels have become the focus of interest due to their inherent light weight and,
3D woven glass fiber fabric thus, their remarkable stiffness. However, a question is that whether their hollow galleries could be filled with
Composite sandwich panels still light materials which even at the same time contribute to their mechanical performance. This work ex-
Nano-structured zeolite amines the effect of porous polymer nanocomposites filling galleries of such panels on mechanical response of
Polyurethane
newly formed hybrid composites. To achieve this, the nanocomposites of natural nano-structured zeolite/
Mechanical properties
Energy absorption
polyurethane foams were fabricated and injected within 3D woven glass fibers sandwich panels. Mechanical
characterization techniques including the flatwise compression, edgewise compression, three-point bending and
drop weight impact were carried out to understand the effect of addition of the reinforced foam on the me-
chanical response of the specimens. It is shown that the polyurethane foam reinforced with natural nano-
structured zeolite particles significantly improves the flexural strength, ultimate load and energy absorption of
the filled composite sandwich panels. It is also demonstrated that the damage and local wrinkling failure
compared with other typical sandwich panels do not occur due to the presence of the glass fiber yarns vertically
located between panel sheets. These type of composites provide high specific strength results from high-per-
formance and low-density structure.

1. Introduction
Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites due to their lower
weight, higher specific strength and stiffness [1] and excellent corro-
sion-fatigue resistance [2] have recently drawn a great deal of atten-
tion. In view of their stiffness, this class of material is comparable to
conventional metallic alloys such as steel and aluminum alloys. Their
low thermal expansion and high dimensional stability are other ad-
vantages of these composites as frequently reported elsewhere [3–7]. A
combination of significant physical, thermal and mechanical properties
of composites, especially if required in light weight structures has made
such composites a suitable replacement for metals in many applica-
tions.
FRP composites can be described as multi-component materials in-
cluding fibers embedded in a polymer matrix. Although a veracity of
composites in engineering applications are made from glass fibers due
to their mechanical properties, excellent chemical resistance and very
low cost.
Polymer matrix of FRP composites is classified to thermosets such as
epoxy and polyester as well as thermoplastic polymers. Continuous
fiber-reinforced composites are described as a two-dimensional
multilayer structure with ordered fibers along the plane. The main
feature of the two-dimensional multilayer is lack of fibers in the vertical
direction [8]. Nevertheless, the absence of fibers in the thickness di-
rection may not be favorable in terms of mechanical performance in-
cluding the impact damage resistance in that multilayers composites
exposed to projectile impact are subjected to delamination as frequently
reported [9]. In the case of two-dimensional multilayer composites, the
absence of bonding agents along the direction perpendicular to layers
means that the layers must be ordered separately and collected.
Therefore, the production time increases significantly. Moreover, high
cost, poor transverse mechanical properties occurring due mainly to the
lack of fibers in the vertical direction are other disadvantage of two-
dimensional multilayer composite structures [10].
The development of three-dimensional (3D) composites has been
recently addressed due to the need for the reduction of the production
cost [11], and the enhancement of the mechanical behavior across the
thickness, impact damage resistance [12], maximum bending moment
capacity and maximum strength-to-weight ratio. One of the fabrication
methods in textile industries is the 3D woven fabric wrap-weft knitting
process. In this process, two layers of wrap-weft woven yarns at a
certain distance from each other are connected utilizing vertical woven

∗
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: hamid.safari@me.iut.ac.ir (H. Safari), mkarevan@cc.iut.ac.ir (M. Karevan), hnahvi@cc.iut.ac.ir (H. Nahvi).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymertesting.2018.03.018
Received 18 January 2018; Received in revised form 4 March 2018; Accepted 10 March 2018
Available online 12 March 2018
0142-9418/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
H. Safari et al.
fibers. As a result, a tight connection between the two layers is expected
to be developed, which in turn promotes the resistance to delamination
of the sandwich structure. Such characteristics lead to epoxy based 3D
woven glass fiber fabric sandwich structures exhibiting a low density
and remarkable strength.
To date, only a few experimental studies in respect of 3D woven
fabric composite sandwich panels have been reported. In view of the
elastic response of this class of structures, the Young's modulus of 3D
woven composite materials, may be lower [13,14] or [15,16] greater
than that exhibited by the 2D multi-layers using the same fiber content.
Brandt et al. [17] addressed the mechanical performance of a type of
woven composites including monolithic and sandwich by the compar-
ison of in-plane properties such as stiffness and strength, damage tol-
erance, energy absorption capability. Judawisastra et al. [18] in-
vestigated the bending fatigue behavior and damage development
during fatigue of polyurethane (PUR)-epoxy sandwich composites.
Bannister et al. [19] examined a type of composite sandwich structures.
Flatwise compression, edgewise compression, climbing drum peel and
flexure tests were conducted. Van Vuure et al. [20] studied the me-
chanical properties of sandwich panels core and their potential for cost-
effective sandwich construction. They evaluated the basic mechanical
performance of the sandwich core under compressive and shear
loading. Moreover, Van Vuure et al. [21] reviewed the sandwich panels
to be utilized as an alternative spacer material in a constrained layer
damping configuration. Wu et al. [22] developed a composite sandwich
structure with foam core reinforced with composite columns and tested
all types of the samples with different consisting structural parameters
under compressive load. Kus et al. [23] investigated the flexural be-
havior of the integrated woven spacer composites incorporating carbon
fiber reinforced polymer face sheets accompanying epoxy and polyester
matrix. Significant changes in the flexural properties of the composites,
first related to the temperature and then to the resin type were ob-
served. Tekalur et al. [24] examined the impact resistance of sandwich
composite structures. They analyzed the photographs of the ballistic
events of penetration and damage. The results showed that reinforced
panels with 3D woven backing had a higher ballistic efficiency than the
2D stacking layers panels. Xia and Wu [25] explored impact perfor-
mance of foam core sandwich composites consisting of various facings
composed of glass, carbon woven, carbon/Kevlar hybrid, and Kevlar
fabrics. Fan et al. [26] conducted three-point bending tests to reveal the
failure mechanisms of the textile composite. Fan et al. [27] performed
low-velocity dynamic compression tests to reveal the failure mechanism
and the energy absorption capacity of a specific woven sandwich
composite. The results were correlated to the dynamic effects of the
strength and the energy absorption by the dynamic buckling of the
woven struts in the core. Hu et al. [28] studied the deformation,
strength, and failure modes of sandwich composites by experiments and
extracted failure modes of composites. Jin et al. [29] fabricated a new
integrated sandwich composite and examined the mechanical proper-
ties and the failure mechanism. The experiments verified the high
skin–core debonding resistance. Luo et al. [30] determined the trans-
verse impact behaviors of orthogonal hybrid woven fabric composites
to analyze the strain rate sensitivity of energy absorption. Fan et al.
[31] conducted mechanical tests to reveal the failure mechanisms and
the energy absorption capacity of the sandwich materials. In another
work conducted by them [32] multi-layered panels were prepared by
stacking thin monolayer panels to improve the energy absorption per-
formance of the sandwich followed by the quasi-static compression
experiments for the evaluation of the energy absorption mechanism.
Sedighi et al. [33] studied a finite element simulation followed by ex-
perimental characterization of fabricated samples in order to in-
vestigate the mechanical behavior of glass-fiber sandwich composites.
The literature review furthermore emphasizes that the sandwich
structures made of a new type of 3D woven fabric can be used to
overcome many common downsides observed in thin layers or honey-
comb core sandwich composites. One key shortcoming of regular
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Polymer Testing 67 (2018) 284–294
sandwich structures, however, is their processability since the skins
must be separately prepared and glued to the composite core. In ad-
dition, skin delamination observed in sandwich composites under
flexural loadings, torsion or impact forces may lead to their separation
from the core. A key hypothesis is that whether a reinforced core of
sandwich composites made of 3D fabric could overcome the issued
mentioned due to the presence of secondary mechanisms contributed
by fibers perpendicularly connecting surface skins together.
Zeolites are very stable aluminosilicate solids with honeycomb
framework of micropores that resist the kinds of environmental con-
ditions that challenge many other materials [34]. Zeolites have dif-
ferent dimensions of pores, high surface areas and channels responsible
for their physical and chemical properties. Also, they have relatively
high melting points (over 1000 °C), resist high pressures, don't dissolve
in water or other inorganic solvents, don't oxidize in the air and don't
cause health issues due to unreactive and based on naturally occurring
mineral and eco-friendly nature [35].
Zeolites have found multifarious applications as adsorbents, ion
exchangers and catalysts in industry [36], medicine [35,37–41], food
science [42], sanitation and environmental protection [43,44].
This study aims at evaluating the effect of natural nano-structured
zeolite/polyurethane on the mechanical properties of 3D woven glass
fiber fabric composite sandwich panels. Addressing the effect of nano-
structured zeolite addition into polyurethane filled sandwich composite
on mechanical properties has not been carried out previously. To un-
derstand mechanical response of fabricated samples, flatwise com-
pression, edgewise compression, three-point bending and drop weight
impact tests were carried out according to respective standards. Load-
displacement profile diagrams were used to determine the mechanical
properties and failure mechanism of the sandwich panels.
2. Experimental
2.1. Materials
3D woven E-glass fiber fabric (Hardener HE 1515 and epoxy resin
LR-2025) was used to fabricate the specimens. The resin and hardener
mixing ratio of ten-to-one was used to fabricate 3D woven E-glass fiber
composite sandwich panel. Careful measuring of epoxy resin and
hardener and thorough mixing are essential for proper curing according
to the manufacturer. Polyurethane foams consisting of polyol and iso-
cyanate with mixing ratio of one-to-one were prepared.
2.2. 3D woven glass fiber composite specimens
To fabricate the 3D woven glass fiber fabric composite specimens,
the fabric was cut for flatwise and edgewise compression specimens
with the dimensions of 54 × 54 mm2 according to the ASTM C365 [45]
and ASTM C364 [46], respectively. Moreover, to perform the flexural
characterization, the 3D woven fabric was sliced into specimens of
154 × 54 mm2 according to the ASTM C363 [47] and 210 × 100 mm2
in the case of the drop weight impact according to the ASTM D7136
[48]. The upper and lower surfaces of the fabric were coated with the
mixture of epoxy resin and hardener giving proper soaking time to wet
the surfaces across the thickness. Finally, the upper and lower fabric
skins were separated to form the 3D structure. Specimens were fully
cured at the ambient temperature for 24 h.
2.3. Natural nano-structured zeolite/polyurethane filled composite
specimens
To fabricate the foam composite specimens, the polyol-isocianate
mixture was injected into the sandwich core allowing a few minutes for
the foam formation. The polyurethane foam was cured at room tem-
perature for 2 days. To fabricate the zeolite/polyurethane filled speci-
mens, 5–30 wt% of zeolite was added into the polyol-isocianate mixture
H. Safari et al. Polymer Testing 67 (2018) 284–294

Fig. 1. (a) Composite sandwich panel made of 3D woven glass fiber fabric and; (b) zeolite/polyurethane filled 3D woven glass fiber composite specimens; with dimensions of
54 × 54 × 24 mm3 and their cross-section parts.

and homogenized following the above procedure. Fig. 1(a) and (b)
show a 3D woven glass fiber fabric sandwich panel composite specimen
and a zeolite/polyurethane filled 3D woven glass fiber composite, re-
spectively.

2.4. Mechanical performances of composites

One hypothesis is that the composites mechanical performances are

governed by the filling composite foams reinforced with zeolite. The
mechanical behavior of composite sandwich panel specimens was ex-
amined to understand the effect of the latter on the compressive,
bending and drop weight impact tests. Three specimens were used in
the case of compressive, three point bending using a SANTAM Universal
Testing Machine with a load cell of 50 kN and drop weight impact tests
for each type of composites.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Flatwise compression

This test procedure covers the determination of compressive

strength and modulus of sandwich cores. These properties are usually
determined for design purposes in a direction normal to the plane of
facings as the core would be placed in a structural sandwich con-
struction. The test procedures pertain to compression in this direction
in particular, but also can be applied with possible minor variations to
determining compressive properties in other directions. Each flatwise
compression test was performed at a cross-head speed of 2 mm/min on
three 54 × 54 × 24 mm3 specimens according to the ASTM C365 [45].
Three specimens were used for each type of composite test. The spe-
cimen under flatwise test is observed in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2. Flatwise compression test of zeolite/polyurethane filled composites.
The average force-displacement curves for the flatwise compression
tests of plain fiber composites and neat polyurethane specimens with
same dimensions are compared in Fig. 3. After reaching the force peak
value in the first stage, the skin was broken and due to failure in the
connection location of vertical fibers and skins, composite continued to
compress until sandwich core completely is compacted. The orthogonal

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Table 1
Ultimate loads for flatwise compression test against zeolite wt%.

Flatwise compression P1 (kN) P2 (kN) P3 (kN) P (kN)

Plain 3D fiber composites 1.07 1.31 1.12 1.17± 0.15

Neat polyurethane filled 3.27 3.22 3.41 3.3±0.1
composites Zeolite/ P5%Z (kN) P10%Z (kN) P20%Z (kN) P30%Z (kN)
polyurethane filled fiber 3.6±0.2 3.44± 0.25 3.02±0.3 2.9±0.2
composites

Table 2
Compressive properties of flatwise compression test specimens.

Flatwise compression σ (MPa) E (MPa)

Plain 3D fiber composites 0.4± 0.02 3.1± 0.4

Neat polyurethane filled composites 1.1± 0.03 18.8± 0.7

Fig. 3. Comparative average force-displacement curves for flatwise compression tests of Table 3
plain 3D fiber composites versus neat polyurethane. Compressive properties of flatwise compression test specimens reinforced with containing
zeolite powder.

fibers were started to crush at around 1.17 kN force value in the plain Zeolite wt% σ (MPa) E (MPa)
composites.
5 1.2±0.02 18.5± 0.8
The comparative force-displacement curves for flatwise compres- 10 1.15± 0.02 18.4± 0.8
sion tests of zeolite/polyurethane filled composite sandwich panels are 20 1 ± 0.03 18.4± 0.7
represented in Fig. 4. It is clearly observed that the composites re- 30 1± 0.02 18.3± 0.8
inforced with 30 wt% zeolite obtained maximum value of energy ab-
sorption until the specimens become fully compressed.
The ultimate loads values obtained are summarized in Table 1. P fibers to reshape into a single yarn twisting in parallel state relative to
represents the maximum load obtained in the flatwise compression test each other. The fibers continue to rotate under increasing load until the
for three specimens of each composite system. Average compressive vertical yarn becomes unstable and then breaks along a well-defined
strengthσ , and average compressive modulus, E, are given in Tables 2 plane known as a kink band. The kink bands in first initiate in the most
and 3. severely distorted yarn, which are usually at the skin surface where
According to the results, 5wt% zeolite/polyurethane composite has they are tangled by the vertical fibers. As a result, composites fail
the best performance. 3D woven glass fiber fabric composite sandwich gradually at discrete locations throughout the structure, leading to ul-
panels were crushed by twisting (kinking) of vertical yarns because of timate failure as illustrated in Fig. 5.
axial compression. Kinking failure was started in areas with lower re-
sistance to shear deformations (the defective area such as the cracked
3.2. Edgewise compression test
areas) or in areas where the fibers were deviated from the force di-
rection. Kinking was begun when the axial yarn applied compressive
This test method covers the compressive properties of structural
stress in the resin matrix was reached a plastic shear value. The plastic
sandwich construction in a direction parallel to the sandwich facing
yielding of resin–fibers in the vertical fiber-skin connection zone allows

Fig. 4. Flatwise compression force-displacement curves of plain 3D fiber as well as zeo-

lite/polyurethane filled composite sandwich panels as a function of zeolite content. Fig. 5. Kinking failure of fibers in vertical direction under axial compression load.

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Table 5
Compressive properties of edgewise compression test specimens.

Edgewise compression σ (MPa) E (MPa)

Plain 3D fiber composites 3.8± 0.06 210± 25

Neat polyurethane filled composites 5.57± 0.03 202 ±20

Fig. 6. Schematic of the edgewise compression test set-up.

Fig. 8. Three point bending test of wt% zeolite/polyurethane filled composites.

2 mm/min on specimens with dimensions of 24 × 54 × 154 mm3 ac-

cording to the ASTM C393 [47]. Test span length and skins thickness of
specimens were 110 mm and 2 mm, respectively. Three specimens were
used for each composite system. The three point bending results of plain
Fig. 7. Comparative average force-displacement curves for edgewise compression test of
composites, neat polyurethane and zeolite/polyurethane filled compo-
plain and neat polyurethane filled fiber composites.
sites are shown in Figs. 8–10.
Failure began at the center of the specimen with kink formation on
Table 4 the compressive side followed by fibers rupture and delamination oc-
Ultimate loading of the edgewise compression characterization.
curred on the tensile side only. The composite was exhibited con-
Edgewise compression P1 (kN) P2 (kN) P3 (kN) P (kN) siderable ductility as shown in the linear part of the curve against the
deflection of the specimens. As indicated in Figs. 9 and 10, the decrease
Plain 3D fiber composites 4.84 5.13 5.46 5.04±0.4 in the applied force was correlated to the kinking and rupture of the
Neat polyurethane filled composites 6.88 7.32 7.51 7.23±0.2

plane. The edgewise compressive properties of the composites were

characterized according to ASTM C364 [46]. Each edgewise compres-
sion tests were carried out at a cross-head speed of 2 mm/min on three
specimens with dimensions of 54 × 54 × 24 mm3. Fig. 6 depicts a
schematic of the edgewise compression test. Fig. 7 illustrates com-
parative average force-displacement curves for edgewise compression
tests of plain and neat polyurethane filled 3D fiber composites for three
specimens of each composite system. In the case of neat polyurethane
filled composites, due to existance of foam core, the energy absorption
by composite was higher. The maximum loads values obtained from the
edgewise compression tests are listed in Table 4.
Average compressive strength and compressive modulus under
edgewise compression were determined according to [47] performed
on three specimens of each composite system. These properties are
given in Table 5.

3.3. Three point bending test

Fig. 9. Three point bending curves of plain 3D fiber composites and neat polyurethane
filled composites.
Three point bending tests were performed at a cross-head speed of

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Table 7
Bending and shear strength of three point bending test.

Three point bending σ (MPa) τ (MPa)

Plain 3D fiber composites 5.3± 0.3 0.2± 0.02

Neat polyurethane filled composites 14.8± 0.4 0.5± 0.02

Table 8
Bending and shear strength of three point bending test specimens loaded with zeolite
powder.

Zeolite/polyurethane filled composites (Zeolite wt%) σ (MPa) τ (MPa)

5 14.5± 0.8 0.510± 0.08

10 11.7± 0.4 0.427± 0.04
20 12.8± 0.5 0.465± 0.06
30 11.2± 0.4 0.405± 0.06

Table 9
Fig. 10. Three point bending curves of plain, neat polyurethane and wt% zeolite/poly-
Flexural properties of three point bending test specimens.
urethane filled composites.
Three point bending Δ (mm) D (N.mm−1) U (N) G (MPa)
Table 6
Plain 3D fiber 5 49.4 ± 9.8 1522.7 ± 304.5 1.2 ± 0.2
Ultimate tensile loading of three point bending test as a function of zeolite wt%.
composites
Neat polyurethane 5 206.6 ± 8.2 5801.6 ± 232 4.5 ± 0.1
Three point bending P1 (kN) P2 (kN) P3 (kN) P (kN)
filled composites
Plain 3D fiber 0.55 0.42 0.4 0.45 ± 0.06
composites
Neat polyurethane 1.35 1.28 1.2 1.28 ± 0.06 Table 10
filled composites P5%Z (kN) P10%Z (kN) P20%Z (kN) P30%Z (kN) Flexural properties of three point bending test specimens loaded with zeolite powder.
Zeolite/ 1.21± 0.0.3 1.01 ± 0.07 1.1 ± 0.0.9 0.96 ± 0.05
polyurethane Zeolite wt% Δ (mm) D (N.mm−1) U (N) G (MPa)
filled fiber
composites 5 5 229.7 ± 36.7 6856.2 ± 596.9 5.2 ± 0.6
10 5 187.5 ± 18.7 4918.3 ± 491.8 3.8 ± 0.3
20 5 175.1 ± 22.7 4365.2 ± 395.2 3.3 ± 0.4
30 5 182.3 ± 27.3 4073.1 ± 610.9 3.1 ± 0.4
core material. Table 6 elucidates the Ultimate tensile loading of three
point bending test as a function of zeolite wt%.
The occurrence of failures such as the misalignment of fibers in the The deflection Δ was experimentally determined by the three-point
vertical direction could be thought to weaken the ultimate loads of 3D bending test whilst the only unknown variable is the shear modulus G
woven composites. The core shear stress was calculated using equation that can be easily obtained through solving equations (3) and (4). The
(1) according to the ASTM C393 standard [47]: flexural properties of composite sandwich panels are given in Tables
P 7–10.
τ=
(d + c ) b (1) According to the results of Tables 7–10, material properties has
increased by adding neat polyurethane and 5wt% zeolite/polyurethane
where τ is core shear stress, P is load, d is sandwich thickness, c is core to maximum values and continually decreased by adding more zeolite
thickness, and b is sandwich width. The ultimate shear strength was up to 30wt%. The force-deflection curves shown in Fig. 10 clearly show
obtained using equation (1) where P is the maximum load. Facing that, in the case of the plain sandwich panels, lower forces was required
bending stress was calculated by equation (2) [47]: to initiate cracks and damage in the skin while in the case of the foam
PL core sandwich panel specimens greater loadings was required for the
σ= damage initiation. The results indicated that the average core shear
2t (d + c ) b (2)
modulus of polyurethane foam filled sandwich panel specimens was
where σ is the facing bending stress, t is facing thickness and L is the around 4.5 MPa that was 270% greater compared to that exhibited by
span length. The beam deflection could be ascribed to both flexural and the plain sandwich panel specimens. Moreover, the sandwich panels
shear deformations. The shear deformation is dominant in the core and, filled with polyurethane loaded with 5wt% of zeolite yield the greatest
hence, the approximate expression for the elastic deflection of sandwich shear modulus being around 5.2 MPa among of all other fabricated
beam can be given by equation (3) [47]: composite systems. In addition, it was clearly understood that the core
PL shear modulus and panel shear rigidity of composites sandwich panels
Δ= filled with zeolite/polyurethane foam at 5wt% of the filler content
4U (3)
were greater than those observed in the case of other composite sand-
where Δ is total beam midspan deflection. Also, the panel bending wich panels.
stiffness, D, is the slope of force-deflection curve in the three point The findings, moreover, confirmed that the skin crushing and shear
bending testing. The panel shear rigidity was calculated by equation (4) failure dominate the load capacity of the composite sandwich panels
[47]: based on the three-point bending observations. Moreover, the failure of
G (d + c )2b fibers in the vertical direction, crimp and kinking leaded to the domi-
U= nant failure mechanism of the sandwich panels as seen in Fig. 11. The
4c (4)
results indicated that the crack propagation initiated from the resin-rich
where G is the core shear modulus.

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H. Safari et al.
Fig. 11. Failure of specimens under three-point bending test.
region around vertical yarns and propagates along the vertical yarns
with skin delamination in composites.
3.4. Specific strength
The specific strength is the ratio of strength and density. Under the
premise of equal weight, they are indices of measuring bearing capacity
and stiffness properties of the material. Such properties are very im-
portant for lightweight structural materials to work in the air or the
space. The density of composite sandwich panel was approximated
according to the ASTM C271 [49] using equation (5):
w
d=
v (5)
where d is the density of specimen, w is the final mass after curing, and
v is the final volume after curing. The density of plain composite
sandwich panel and polyurethane filled composite sandwich panel were
calculated to obtain the strength-to-weight ratio value of composites.
The specific strength values of sandwich structures (strength to density
ratio) are given in Table 11. It could be understood that the increased
weight of composites by injecting the polyurethane foam resulted in
150% and 30% increase in the specific strength of flatwise compression
and edgewise compression specimens, respectively.
By using CES EduPack 2013 material selector software, it is possible
to draw comparisons between of a wide range of material by their
properties. Here, graphs of Fig. 12 were used to observe that choosing
3D woven composites can be the most optimal material.
3.5. Drop weight impact test
The drop weight impact test was carried out on the
24 × 100 × 210 mm3 neat polyurethane filled composites and plain 3D
fiber specimens according to the ASTM D7136 standard [48]. Three
specimens were used for characterization and the average values were
reported. The specimens were secured in place using four clamps to
prevent the specimen from rebounding during the impact event. To
perform the experiment, a 3 kg conical impactor released from the
height of 1.8 and 2 m ensuring the impact energy of 52 J and 59 J,
respectively. The impact energy was calculated according to the energy
balance equation as expressed by equation (6):
Table 11
Specific strength values of studied 3D woven composites considering of two types of Al-sandwich panel composites.
Sandwich structure Specific flatwise compression strength (Pa.m3/kg)
Plain 3D fiber sandwich panel composites 2972
Neat polyurethane filled sandwich panel composites 7370
Al-honeycomb sandwich panel [50] 1750
Al-foam sandwich panel [50] 6944
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Polymer Testing 67 (2018) 284–294
E = mgH (6)
where E is the impactor potential energy, m is the impactor mass, g is
gravity acceleration and H is the height of the impactor.
The results indicated that impact resistance of the specimens in-
creased with the increase in the impact velocity. At the initial stage of
the impact loading, the energy absorption slightly was increased fol-
lowed by the fibers failure and absorbance of a larger amount of impact
energy by the matrix. As the impact velocity increases, the damage of
composite specimens were became more severe that could be correlated
to the high energy absorption provided by composite panels. The fiber
tension failure, debonding, fibers pulled out, and the matrix spallation
were the main damage mechanisms observed in the skin surface.
Consequently, it could be concluded that this type of 3D woven com-
posites had high delamination resistance since a lower degree of dela-
mination was observed compared to that occurred in the case of the
stacking thin 2D monolayers composite in other investigations.
It was also observed that the drop test in the case of 1.8 m height did
not lead to any damage throughout the specimens. In the case of the
impact energy of 59 J and the impactor height of 2 m, the impact on the
composites resulted in the perforation of the sandwich panel and the
projectile therefore rebounded after the incidence. The failure of the
vertical fibers under the impact is clearly shown in Fig. 13.
The observations further indicated that, in the case of the poly-
urethane foam filled specimens, the impact damage area when the
energy value of 59 J and the impactor height 2 m were used was nar-
rower than that occurring in the case of plain specimens. The findings
were ascribed to the presence of polyurethane foam core as an energy
absorber medium within the specimens. Local denting, cracking and
fiber fracture on the uppermost surface were observed in the plain
composites. To better explore the failure mechanisms occurring
through the impact test, a sandwich panel was subjected to the incident
energy of 59 J was sectioned. Fig. 14 depicts the impact damage in-
curred to a specimen showing resin cracking and delamination. The
damage occurred onto the upper skin is clear, taking the form of
denting by debonding, a small delamination adjacent to the impact
location. The natural zeolites have a unique three-dimensional honey-
comb structure, which creates an absorbing framework [43,44,51]. This
structure can be effective under impact loading. Deformations caused
by impact loading crushes these structures while absorbing impact
Specific edgewise compression strength (Pa.m3/kg) Density (kg/m3)
28590 135.9
36225 153.8
12210 2730
83518 400
H. Safari et al. Polymer Testing 67 (2018) 284–294

Fig. 12. . Graphs of comparative mechanical properties for woven epoxy/fiber composite, stainless steel-aluminum honeycombs and aluminum foams (a) tensile strength versus com-
pressive strength; (b) specific tensile strength versus price and (c) yield strength versus poisson's ratio.

energy. The external load is transferred to cell walls at the cell level and
deflections is reflected at macro-level. The schematic diagram of this
process is shown in the following Fig. 15.
3.6. Scanning electron microscopy
The scanning electron microscope (SEM) technique was employed
in morphological characterization of nano-structured zeolite/poly-
urethane composites. The porous structure of neat polyurethane is
clearly shown in Fig. 16. Fig. 17 exhibits the SEM image of poly-
urethane network and glass fibers interaction in transversal section of
composites.
Fig. 18 represents the SEM of polyurethane foam/nano-structured
zeolites composites. It was observed that the zeolite presented in an
irregular and heterogeneous granulometry. It is worth noting that to
improve the foam quality, granulometry aside, the ideal is to utilize a
chemically pure material that does not contain substances reacting with
the polyurethane. The SEM images also indicated the presence of zeo-
lite particles of spherical shapes with the dimension of 100–1000 nm.
Figs. 19 and 20 are used to detect the various elements of zeolite
elemental constitution. Zeolites are generally a group of alumina sili-
cate minerals with porous structures. The EDX data analysis was

Fig. 13. Failure of vertical fibers occurring under the local impact region.

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H. Safari et al. Polymer Testing 67 (2018) 284–294

Fig. 16. SEM image of neat polyurethane morphology.

Fig. 14. The damage area of composite sandwich panel by drop weight impact test.

confirmed that the zeolite contains high concentrations of key elements

such as Al, Si and O together with the presence of other elements such
as Mg, C and Ca. The EDX patterns yielded composition confirmed re-
sults the composition of zeolite used in the present study that was in
good agreement with other research results reported elsewhere
[52–54]. The chemical composition of zeolite is presented in Table 12.

4. Conclusion

This study aimed at the fabrication and assessment of light weight

reinforced sandwich composites exhibiting high energy and impact
absorption behavior, good delamination resistance, and simple and cost
effectiveness fabrication for the use in the design and manufacture of
automotive, aerospace and structural engineering parts. To achieve the
goal, 3D woven glass fiber composite sandwich panels were reinforced
Fig. 17. SEM image of polyurethane network and glass fibers interaction in transversal
with nano-structured zeolite/polyurethane foam being the core mate- section.
rial. The flatwise compression, edgewise compression, three point
bending, and drop weight impact characterization were carried out to

Fig. 15. Framework structures for some types of zeolites [51].

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H. Safari et al.
Fig. 18. SEM of polyurethane foam filled with nano-structured zeolite particles with magnification of (a) 200× and (b) 400×.
Fig. 19. EDX analysis of natural nano-structured zeolite.
understand the performance and failure mechanisms of the specimens
against zeolite wt%. The mechanical performance of the fabricated
specimens such as the strength and modulus of elasticity under com-
pression loading, and bending stiffness and maximum contact force
loading were examined and compared with those observed in the case
of the plain 3D woven fiber glass composite sandwich panels. The re-
sults indicated that when the zeolite/polyurethane is used the filled
Fig. 20. EDX Spectrum of natural nano-structured zeolite.
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Polymer Testing 67 (2018) 284–294
composite sandwich panels lead to an approximately 50%, 150% and
180% increase in the ultimate edgewise compressive load, ultimate
flatwise compressive load and ultimate bending load, respectively. A
slight weight increase of 10% was observed through the addition of the
zeolite/polyurethane foam into the plain composite sandwich panels
whilst the reinforcement improved the compressive flatwise strength,
compressive edgewise strength and bending strength by 150%, 30%
and 180%, respectively, compared to those determined in the case of
unfilled plain control specimens. The compressive and three-point
bending behavior of composites reached the greatest values at 30 and
5 wt%, respectively.
The structural studies displayed enhanced damage strength and the
impact resistance of woven composite materials caused by the high
delamination resistance of the filled specimens. The results were at-
tributed to the creation of fibril connective bridges in the vertical di-
rection with respect to the loading that prevents connection rupture and
crack propagation. The improved mechanical performance observed
provokes further studies to examine the flammability and anti-corro-
sion ability of this class of light sandwich panels to find their extended
applications in industries and construction sectors.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect
to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
H. Safari et al. Polymer Testing 67 (2018) 284–294

Table 12
Characterized chemical elements of natural nano-structured zeolite by EDX analysis.
Element Weight % Atomic %
C 0.98 1.75
O 44.7 59.89
Mg 2.07 1.83
Al 7.67 6.09
Si 28.95 22.09
Ca 15.63 8.36
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, au-
thorship, and/or publication of this article.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data related to this article can be found at http://dx.
doi.org/10.1016/j.polymertesting.2018.03.018.
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