Composites: Part A 36 (2005) 1055–1065

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Design and test of lightweight sandwich T-joint for naval ships

Helmuth Toftegaard*, Aage Lystrup
Materials Research Department, Risø National Laboratory, P.O. Box 49, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark
Received 16 August 2004; accepted 25 October 2004

Abstract

Within the EUCLID project, ‘Survivability, Durability and Performance of Naval Composite Structures’, one task is to develop improved
fibre composite joints for naval ship super structures. One type of joint in such a super structure is a T-joint between sandwich panels.
An existing design consists of panels joined by filler and overlaminates of the same thickness as the skin laminates. Various improved
T-joints have been designed and investigated. Some with focus on improved strength (survivability), and others with focus on reduced
weight. This paper describes the design and test of a sandwich T-joint with reduced weight but with the same or higher strength than the
existing design. The lightweight T-joint is designed for sandwich panels with 60 mm thick PVC foam core and 4 mm thick glass fibre/vinyl
ester skin laminates. The panels are joined by use of filler and two triangular PVC foam fillets (core triangles). A method for a finite element
(FE) parameter study is developed and used for selection of a promising (strong) configuration of the T-joint. Tensile (pull-out) tests are
performed to load the core triangles and filler in tension and the strength and failure mode are compared both with the FE modelling and
results from tests on the existing T-joint design. The numerical simulations are used to perform a comparison of stresses from different
T-joint configurations along a pathway 0.5 mm from the border in the filler and 1 mm inside the remaining parts - core triangle, base panel
core, etc. This is found to be a comprehensive way to compare many different configurations. The base angle of the core triangle is the
most important geometry parameter of the joint, and tensile tests show very good agreement with the numerical predictions. The lightweight
T-joint has 20% higher strength than the existing design, and the weight is only about 40% of that of the existing design.
q 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: B. Strength; C. Finite element analysis (FEA); D. Mechanical testing; E. Joints/joining; Sandwich

1. Introduction a T-joint between sandwich panels. In the first phase of the

EUCLID-projects (EUropean Cooperation for the Long
term In Defence) are organised by the Western European
Armaments Organisation. EUCLID RTP3.21 has the title
‘Survivability, Durability and Performance of Naval
Composite Structures’, and the objective of the project is
to strengthen the technological basis for the large-scale
application of fibre reinforced composite materials for naval
vessels and structures, so that such vessels (or major parts
thereof, e.g. superstructures) can be designed with confi-
dence on the basis of modelling and failure predictions
[1,2]. One task is to develop improved joints for naval ship
super structures manufactured from fibre composites.
Among the joints in such a super structure we consider
* Corresponding author. Tel.: C45 4677 5711; fax: C45 4677 5758.
E-mail address: Helmuth.Toftegaard@risoe.dk (H. Toftegaard).
project an existing design, called Base Design (BD), of a
T-joint has been tested and characterised [3]. The Base
Design T-joint consists of balsa core sandwich panels joined
by filler forming a smooth transition (radius 35 mm) from
the T-panel to the base panel, and overlaminated with
laminates of the same thickness as the skin laminates. In the
next phase of the project Candidate New Designs (CND) of
T-joints were proposed, and some of them were selected for
further investigation by testing. One of these CND T-joints,
proposed by the Danish consortium, is inspired by
Karlskronavarvet in Sweden [4], and it is based on sandwich
panels with PVC foam core, which are joined by filler by the
aid of two triangular PVC foam fillets. Investigations
performed on a T-joint with triangular fillets and over-
laminates loaded in compression state that the efficiency of
the joint is not so good as for T-joints with overlaminates
and filler fillet or a foam pad fillet [5]. The present design

1359-835X/$ - see front matter q 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compositesa.2004.10.031
1056 H. Toftegaard, A. Lystrup / Composites: Part A 36 (2005) 1055–1065

Table 1
Materials and basic dimensions of the resulting DK-CND1 T-joint

Part Materials Dimension Value (mm)

T-joint test specimen See below. (Plywood inserts at ends of sandwich panels for gripping) Overall width 250
Overall length, L 1000
Overall height, H 350
Width of sole of T, Tmb 10
Triangular fillets Divinycell PVC foam, HD250 Base length, Ltb 90
Height, Lth 45
Angle at base, AtZ458 –
Skin laminate E glass fibre: 1!CSM 300 g/m2 Owens Corn. M723; 4!Quadriaxial Thickness, TsaZTsb 4
Devold DBLT 820 E10; 1!CSM 300 g/m2 Owens Corn. M723;
Matrix: Vinyl ester Reich. 9500-501
Core Divinycell PVC foam, H100 Thickness, TcaZTcb 60
Filler Crestomer 1152 PA Thickness at fillets, Tf 3
Thickness under T, Tfc 7
Length along T skin, Lfb 28

without overlaminates is aiming at T-joint, which is lighter
than the BD T-joint but having the same or higher strength
in tension. Other CND T-joints, suggested by other project
partners, are focusing on joints with higher strength than the
BD T-joint.
In a super structure a T-joint may be loaded in tension if
an internal blast occurs in two adjacent compartments, or by
an underwater explosion, where the whole ship is moving
upward (out of the water), and acceleration forces act on
heavy equipment placed in two adjacent rooms with no
support underneath the separating wall. This paper focuses
on the design and test of the static tensile strength of the
Danish Candidate New Design (DK-CND) T-joint, as one of
the tests performed to characterise the T-joint.
2. Design of lightweight T-joint named DK-CND1
inserts combined with overlaminates [5]. The T-joint can be
loaded by supporting the base panel and applying a vertical
compressive load to the T-panel [5]; by constraining
the base panel and applying a vertical pull-out load to the
T-panel [8,9] or a 458 pull-off load to the T-panel [6,7,10];
or by a three-point-bend test with a vertical compressive
load on the base panel below the joint [10]. The FE analysis
can be linear [5,7,10] or non-linear [6,8,9] and may include
damage in the form of delamination [7] or cracks [10].
The present analysis is concerned with a T-joint with two
triangular foam fillets with no overlaminates. The base
panel is constrained (but free to rotate at the ends) and the
T-panel is loaded in tension with a vertical pull-out load.
The FE analysis is linear and the stresses in the different
parts of the T-joint are evaluated along a pathway 0.5 mm
from the border in the filler and 1 mm from the border inside
the remaining parts.

The selected design based on the outcome of the FE 3.2. FE model

study of the DK-CND is called DK-CND1. The specifica-
tion for the design, materials and the over-all dimensions of Because of symmetry in geometry and loading only one
the test specimens for the DK-CND1 are summarised in
half of the DK-CND T-joint tensile specimen is modelled.
Table 1, and the T-joint is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

3. FE Design parameter study

3.1. Sandwich T-joint investigations

T-joints between sandwich panels have been investigated

for more than a decade [5–10] to determine the effect of
design parameters through combination of experiments and
FE analysis. In some cases a single geometry has been
investigated [8–10] and in other cases [5–7] three or more
geometries were considered. The T-joint connections can
have filler fillets with no overlaminate [7] as well as thin or
Fig. 1. Illustration of DK-CND1 T-joint. Close view of the geometry of the
thick overlaminates of small (10 mm) or large (40 mm) joint and the foam fillets. A small foam piece is visible between the left fillet
radius of curvature [5–10]. The T-joint connection can also and the T-panel. It is used as a spacer during manufacturing in order to
have foam fillets in the form of a pad or two triangular control the thickness of the filler.
 H. Toftegaard, A. Lystrup / Composites: Part A 36 (2005) 1055–1065 1057

Fig. 2. The geometry of the right-hand part of the symmetric DK-CND T-joint.

The right half of the specimen is shown in Fig. 2 together

with the symbols used for the various dimensions. Note that Table 2
the base angle, At, of the foam fillet shown in Fig. 2 differs Geometry variables for the DK-CND T-joint tensile specimen
from the angle shown in Fig. 1, illustrating that the value of
Variable Units Reference Description
the base angle was to be determined by the FE modelling. value
The meaning of each symbol is given in Table 2 together At (8) 60 Angles at base of core triangle
with a reference value for the initial proposed configuration. Da (mm) 1 General distance from path to
The co-ordinate system in Fig. 2 has the x- and y-direction area boundary
along the base panel (panel A) and along the T-panel (panel Da5 (mm) 0.5 Distance from path to filler
boundary
B), respectively.
H (mm) 350 Overall height
The commercial FE code ANSYS 5.6 was used to make a L (mm) 806 Overall length
2D plain strain model of the T-joint tensile specimen. The Lca (mm) 702 Length of core for panel A
boundary conditions and the point of loading are shown in Lcb (mm) 273 Length of core for panel B
Fig. 3, where the numbers refer to different parts. The test is Lfb (mm) 25 Length of filler along panel B
skin
called a tensile test since the joint (core triangles and filler) is Ltb (mm) 78 Base length of core triangle
loaded mainly in vertical tension (but also in horizontal Lth (mm) 67 Height of core triangle
tension and shear). The material properties and orientations Lwa (mm) 52 Length of wood block for panel
used for each part in various computations are given in A
Lwb (mm) 75 Length of wood block for panel
Table 3 together with a description of each part. The material B
orientation is given as the direction parallel (symbol k in Tca (mm) 60 Thickness of core for panel A
Table 3) to the local x-axis. The elastic constants Ex, Ey, Gxy Tcb (mm) 60 Thickness of core for panel B
and nxy (E for Young’s modulus, G for shear modulus and n Tf (mm) 3 Thickness of filler layer
Tfc (mm) 7 Thickness of filler at vertical
for Poisson’s ratio) in the local co-ordinate system are given symmetry line
together with the tensile strength X and Y in the local Tmb (mm) 6 Minimum core thickness for
x-direction and y-direction, respectively, as well as the shear panel B
strength, S. The materials are assumed to be linear elastic and Tsa (mm) 5 Thickness of skin for panel A
Tsb (mm) 4 Thickness of skin for panel B
either isotropic or orthotropic. For the isotropic materials the
W (mm) 255 Overall width
following equations apply: EyZEx and Gxy Z Ex =2ð1C nxy Þ:
1058 H. Toftegaard, A. Lystrup / Composites: Part A 36 (2005) 1055–1065

mesh used consists of approximately 10,000 elements. The

element side length varies from 1 mm in the upper skin of
panel A and the filler to 3 mm in the core and the wood
inserts of panel A and B (Fig. 5).

3.3. Evaluation strategy

A study of the effect of systematic design variations is

Fig. 3. Boundary conditions, loading point and numbers referring to parts
(Table 3) of the same material and material orientation.
The material properties for the used quadriaxial skin
laminate (ExZ20 GPa) were not available before the study.
Instead, the properties for a known reference resin infused
laminate were used. This is believed not to influence the
general trend in the parameter study.
The element (PLANE82) used in the model is a plane 8
node isoparametric element with a 2!2 Gauss integration
scheme. This element was used for mixed (quadrilateral-
triangular) automatic meshes. A triangular element is
formed by defining the same node number for the three
nodes on one side of a quadrilateral element. The automatic
important in order to obtain an effective T-joint [5–9]. The
aim of this work is to compare different choices of T-joint
geometry and materials to select promising (strong)
configurations. This is done by considering the calculated
stress levels of each part (skin, core, filler etc.) relative to the
strength of the part for a total load PZ46 kN, where the
maximum shear stress in the panel A core is close to the core
shear strength (sxy/Sz1). In the other parts of the T-joint the
stress/strength should be (well) below a value of one in
order to obtain a joint (filler and core triangles) that will not
fail prior to the panel A core. This is consistent with the
requirements for an effective T-joint [6] in terms of keeping
the internal stresses low.
In this way it is assured that the DK-CND T-joint will
obtain at least the same tensile strength as the BD T-joint,
because the shear failure load of the 60 mm thick Divinycell
H100 core in the DK-CND T-joint is higher than the shear
failure load of the 38 mm balsa core (Baltek AL600/10-CK-
100) used in the BD T-joint, and because the BD T-joint
fails in shear in the core of the base panel under tensile

Table 3
Material properties for each part in various configurations

Part # Part Material Local ! Ex (Mpa) X (Mpa) Ey (Mpa) Y (Mpa) Gxy (Mpa) S (Mpa) nxy
description description orinent.
1 A skin L1 Vinylester k Global x 26,100 417 11,500 9 4400 31.4 0.14
bottom infusion
2 A core Divinycell k Global x 104 2.4 104 2.4 40 1.4 0.3
H100 PVC
2 A core Divinycell k Global x 234 4.8 234 7 90 4.1 0.25
H200 PVC
3 A wood Hardwood k Global x 800 – 500 – 34 – 0.45
(spruce)
4 A skin top L1 Vinylester k Global x 26,100 417 11,500 9 4400 31.4 0.14
infusion
5 Filler Crestomer k Global x 500 15 500 15 170 8.7 0.47
1152 PA
6 Triangle core Divinycell kGlobal x 286 6.2 286 6.2 110 4.1 0.3
HD250 PVC
6 Triangle core Divinycell k Global x 42 2.1 42 2.1 16 1.1 0.3
HD100 PVC
6 Triangle core Divinycell k Global x 104 2.4 104 2.4 40 1.4 0.3
H100 PVC
7 B core Divinycell k Global y 104 2.4 104 2.4 40 1.4 0.3
H100 PVC
7 B core Divinycell k Global y 234 4.8 234 7 90 4.1 0.25
H200 PVC
8 B skin L1 Vinylester k Global y 26100 417 11500 9 4400 31.4 0.14
infusion
9 B wood Hardwood k Global y 800 – 500 – 34 – 0.45
(spruce)
 H. Toftegaard, A. Lystrup / Composites: Part A 36 (2005) 1055–1065
Fig. 4. Contour plot example of shear stresses (MPa). Since plots were
made separately for each part (to increase resolution) the contours are not
comparable between parts.
loading [3]. The failure load of the BD T-joint test specimen
is 36 kN, and the expected failure load for the DK-CND
T-joint test specimen, of same width as the BD T-joint, is
about 46 kN. For this load of 46 kN, the sxy/S ratio is
approximately 1 for a large part of the panel A core of the
DK-CND T-joint with peak sxy/S values of up to 1.1 at the
lower right corner (adjacent to the wood block).
The stress variation in each part is illustrated in Fig. 4 by
contour plots of the shear stresses. A contour plot was made
of each part, and the different contour plots were assembled.
This was done to obtain the best resolution in shear stress for
each part. It means, however, that the contours are not
comparable from part to part. Because of the loading in the
negative y-direction (Fig. 3) the shear stresses become
negative. As seen from Fig. 4 the highest stresses of a part
occur at the border of the part. For the core triangle for
example the highest stress occurs at the right-hand corner due
to the stress singularity at that point. Likewise a stress
singularity exists at the triple point where the core and skin of
panel B meet with the filler at the left face of the core triangle.
The FE model used here is not able to calculate the
correct stresses very close to the singular points. This is due
to the assumption of a linear elastic material model for
the non-linear foams and filler and due to the mesh size
dependence near the singular point. For these reasons
the stresses at the singular points are not considered in the
comparisons of different configurations. Instead the stresses
are compared some distance from the border of a part - and
from the singular points at the border (Fig. 5).
Examples are given in Fig. 6 showing the shear stresses
of the core triangle, the stresses in the y-direction of the filler
and the shear stresses in the core of panel A for a path along
the border, together with the corresponding plots of stress/
strength as a function of distance along the path. The plots
show the variations in stress and the stress level compared to
the strength. As remarked earlier sxy is predominantly
negative. For convenience the sxy/S values of Fig. 6b and f
(as well as Fig. 7) have been multiplied by K1.
1059
Fig. 5. Mesh in core triangle, filler and adjacent cores and skin laminates.
The path, along which the stresses are evaluated, is indicated for the core
triangle and the filler.
The predominantly positive sx and sy values, however, are
not multiplied by -1 in plots of stress/strength versus
distance.
As illustrated in Fig. 6 high stresses exist in three areas:
(1) the base panel core to the right of the core triangle - path
B-C-D in Fig. 6e - with respect to sxy; (2) around the right-
hand corner of the core triangle - B in Fig. 6a and B in
Fig. 6c - with respect to sx, sy and sxy in the filler and the
core triangle; and (3) around the lower end of the panel B
skin - D in Fig. 6a as well as C and D in Fig. 6c - with respect
to sy for the core triangle, as well as sx, sy and sxy for the
filler and the panel B core.
The strategy chosen to evaluate the different T-joints is to
compare the plots of relative stress for different configur-
ations. The comparisons will include both normal stresses
and shear stresses (sx/X, sy/Y and sxy/S) for each part (except
the wood inserts - part 3 and 9). By varying 10 parameters
(geometry and materials) a total of 28 configurations were
calculated and compared along the different paths.
The path in the core of panel A, the core of panel B and
in the core triangle runs along the border at a fixed distance,
DaZ1 mm. In the filler the path runs at a smaller distance,
Da5Z0.5 mm, since the filler thickness is as low as 1 mm in
one of the evaluated T-joint configurations. Several stress/
strength curves for the core triangle are compared in the
example in Fig. 7 with sxy/S versus distance along path for
different core triangle base angles, At, ranging from 308 to 708.
The peak value of sxy/S in the panel A core is 1.04 for the
investigated base angles. The panel A core will thus fail
before the joint itself (core triangle and filler) for base
angles from 30 to 608. For a base angle of 708 the joint will
1060 H. Toftegaard, A. Lystrup / Composites: Part A 36 (2005) 1055–1065

Fig. 6. Stresses on a path along the border of the core triangle, filler and panel A core: (a) core triangle sxy stress contours and path together with, (b) sxy/S along
the path, (c) filler sy stress contours and path together with, (d) sy/Y along the path, and (e) panel A core sxy stress contours and path together with, (f) sxy/S
along the path. All contour stresses in MPa.

fail before the panel A core (since core triangle sy/YZ1.08).
The lowest core triangle sxy/S values are found for base
angles of 30, 40 and 458 with peaks of 0.49, 0.58 and 0.66,
respectively. An angle of 308, however, gives relative high
shear stresses in the filler (sxy/SZ0.72). The shear stresses
for 458 are only slightly higher than for 408. An important
design requirement is to limit the size of the joint by keeping
the dimension in the x-direction low. This favours a high
base angle. On this background 458 was chosen as a
compromise for the triangle core base angle.
All the geometry and material parameters were evaluated
in the same manner, and finally the Tsai-Hill criterion was
used on three of the most promising configurations leading
to the final selection of geometry and material for the DK-
CND T-joint. The selected values are listed in Table 1, and
that design is named DK-CND1.
4. Manufacturing of test specimens
The sandwich panels for the T-joints are manufactured
by a resin infusion technique. All the glass fibre fabrics,
the PVC foam core and the plywood blocks are laid up on
a flat table, vacuum bagged, evacuated and vacuum resin
 H. Toftegaard, A. Lystrup / Composites: Part A 36 (2005) 1055–1065
Fig. 7. Relative shear stress (sxy/S) along path in core triangle for different
core triangle base angles (30, 40, 45, 50, 60 and 708).
infused in one shot. Small grooves (visible in Fig. 1) are cut
at both surfaces of the PVC foam core to facilitate resin flow
and ensure a uniform and complete wetting of all fibres. The
base panel is infused in a size of 1000 mm ! 1850 mm, and
the T-panel in a size of 420 mm ! 1850 mm. The vacuum
infusion is done at room temperature under a vacuum
pressure of about 100 mbar. At the end of the infusion the
pressure is raised to about 800 mbar, and the panel is
allowed to cure at room temperature before it is demoulded
and post cured at 60 8C for 24 h. The edges of the infused
and cured panels are trimmed to the desired geometry, and
the T-panel, the filler and the two triangular fillets are
applied and mounted manually. Small pieces of PVC foam
are used as spacers to ensure correct gaps for the filler. The
T-joints are manufactured and completed in widths of
approximately 1.8 m and subsequently sectioned into the
250 mm wide test specimens.
5. Test set-up, instrumentation and procedure
5.1. Test set-up and test rig
In the static tensile test of the T-joint, the sample is
mounted to the load cell at the top of the T-panel, and the
load is applied at both ends of the base panel, with a distance
of 950 mm. The test rig with a sample mounted in the testing
machine is shown in Fig. 8. The base of the test rig is a
1500 mm long heavy section steel I-beam, HE360B,
360!300 mm (H!W) with flanges of 22.5 mm thickness
and web thickness of 12.5 mm. The test sample is loaded
through pairs of square steel tubes 100!100!5 mm, which
are connected by four 16 mm diameter threaded steel rods.
The steel rods are mounted in spherical bearings (SKF GX
17 F) to allow for free rotation of the test sample at the ends.
A piece of an 8-mm thick plywood is mounted between
the test sample and the square steel tube at both ends of the
1061
Fig. 8. Test rig for tensile testing of T-joint.
base panel, and it is all secured to the sample by three M10
bolts. The top of the T-panel is connected to the testing
machine through two 10-mm thick steel plates of
320!250 mm (H!W). The steel plates are bolted to the
test sample by four M12 bolts positioned at the middle of the
plywood insert at the end of the T-panel, symmetrically
around the mid-plane and with a distance of 70 mm between
each bolt. The top-end of the steel plates is connected to the
load cell though a spherical bearing (SKF GX 45 F).
5.2. Instrumentation and test procedure
The load is recorded by a certified 250 kN load cell. The
displacement is both recorded as the movement of piston
(cross-head) on the tensile machine, and by five calibrated
LVDT (Linear Variable Differential Transformer) devices,
which detect the displacement of the bottom plate of the
base panel. One LVDT, with a working range of 58 mm, is
positioned at the centre, and the other four, with a working
range of 5.8 mm, are positioned symmetrically 200 and
400 mm away from the centre, respectively. The tests are
also recorded on video and still-photos with the cameras in
a fixed position during the test, showing a side view of the
T-joint. A voltmeter within the picture frame shows the load
cell voltage, for identifying the load level at each individual
picture. A square mesh (approximately 10!10 mm) is
painted at one side of the T-joint for better identification
and evaluation of deformation during and after test.
1062 H. Toftegaard, A. Lystrup / Composites: Part A 36 (2005) 1055–1065

Fig. 9. Load versus displacement for specimen DK-CND1-T3. Displacement values are obtained from cross-head position and from LVDT readings at
x-positions K400, K200, 0, C200 and C400 mm.

The tensile test is performed on a 250 kN servo hydraulic corresponds to a failure load per width (in the z-direction -
testing machine (Instron 1333), at a constant cross-head see Fig. 2) of 171, 169, and 168 kN/m, respectively. This is
speed of 10 mm/min. Load, displacement and LVDT gauges an increase in failure load of about 20% compared to the
are computer sampled at a rate of one data set per second. reference Base Design T-joint, which has a failure load per
width of 141 kN/m. The failure mode is a combination of a
shear failure in the base panel and a failure in one of the
6. Test results triangular fillets propagating into the core of the T-panel
(see Figs. 11 and 12). The failure load corresponds to a shear
6.1. Load and displacement failure load (half of the failure load due to symmetry) per
width at the base panel of about 84 kN/m. The (approxi-
Plots of load versus cross-head displacement and load mate) core shear stress around 1.34 MPa at failure load is
versus LVDT displacement are shown for one of the three obtained by dividing the shear failure load by the sum of
specimens (DK-CND1-T3) in Fig. 9. The initial value of the core and skin laminate thickness (TcaCTsa). This is in
load is around 0.4 kN due to pre-stressing and the weight of agreement with the expected shear strength of 1.2–1.4 MPa.
the four square steel tubes and the four threaded steel rods. The findings are summarised in Table 4, and the relation
The LVDT’s away from the centre show a very symmetric between cross-head displacement and shear load at the base
deformation, indicating a symmetric load of the sample. The panel per width is shown in Fig. 10.
load-displacement curve at the centre (for xZ0) is almost
linear up to a load of 20 kN (displacement 17 mm).
Thereafter, the curve becomes slightly non-linear until a
Table 4
load of 38 kN (displacement 40 mm). From there on, the test Failure loads and stresses of static tensile tested DK-CND1 T-joints
sample undergoes heavy deformation for only a slight
increase in load until final failure at a load and displacement Value Unit Sample-T1 Sample-T2 Sample-T3
of 42 kN and 60 mm, respectively. Failure load (kN) 43 42 42
Failure load per (kN/m) 171 169 168
width
6.2. Failure load Shear failure load (kN/m) 85 84 84
per width
The ultimate tensile failure load, corrected for weight of Shear stress in core (MPa) 1.35 1.34 1.33
fixtures, for the three specimens DK-CND1-T1, DK-CND1- at failure load
Expected shear (MPa) 1.2–1.4 1.2–1.4 1.2–1.4
T2 and DK-CND1-T3 is 42.8, 42.0, and 41.8 kN, respect-
strength of core
ively. With a specimen width of approximately 250 mm it
 H. Toftegaard, A. Lystrup / Composites: Part A 36 (2005) 1055–1065 1063

Fig. 10. Shear load per width at the base panel versus cross-head displacement.

6.3. Failure mode
The relation between cross-head displacement and shear
load (Fig. 10) is seen to be almost linear until the shear load
per width at the base panel reaches 40 kN/m. Thereafter, the
curves become non-linear until failure with severe defor-
mation towards the end, caused by shear deformation in the
PVC foam core of the base panel. The shear load per width
of 40 kN/m at the base panel corresponds to a total tensile
load per width of 80 kN/m at the T-panel.
The failure mode and fracture, which were identical for
all three specimens, are illustrated in Figs. 11 and 12.
Fig. 11a and b show the pictures just before and after failure.
Two different types of failures are seen. One is the shear
failure of the base panel, and the other is the failure through
the T-joint itself. The shear failure is a classical shear failure
of sandwich panels consisting of shear fracture of the core
(here at two locations) and delamination between the core
and skin laminates. The failure of the joint itself consists of
an S-shaped crack running through one of the triangular
fillets, just below the skin layer of the T-panel, and further
through the core of the T-panel. In two of the specimens
another crack appeared - starting from the first crack and
running towards the other fillet, as shown in Fig. 12a and b.
The two types of failure resemble the failure types found for
pullout loading of a T-joint with filler fillet and relatively
thick overlaminates [9].
As observed here - and by other investigations [5] as well -
it is difficult to tell which type of failure comes first. The video
recording shows that they both happen within 40 ms. This
applies to all three samples. (There are 40 ms between two
subsequent picture frames, and the last picture frame before
failure shows no indication of failure or cracks, whereas the
next picture frame shows both failures). Nevertheless, it is

Fig. 11. (a) Specimen DK-CND1-T2 during tensile testing at a load of 41.0 kN, after having passed the maximum load and just before failure. Severe shear
deformation in the core of the base panel is visible in the regions where subsequent shear failures occurred. (b) Just after failure. A load of 1.4 kN keeps the
cracks open.
1064 H. Toftegaard, A. Lystrup / Composites: Part A 36 (2005) 1055–1065
Fig. 12. (a) Specimen DK-CND1-T1 showing the characteristic failure of the joint itself. One crack runs through one of the triangular fillets and further through
the core of the T-panel forming a S-shaped crack. Another crack starting from the first crack and running towards the other fillet is also visible. (b) The same
cracks but shown from the other side of the specimen, illustrating that the crack has the same shape all the way through the width of the test sample.
believed that the shear failure occurs first, and that release of
energy from the shear failure causes the T-joint to fracture.
This is based on several facts and observations:
1. The shear stress level in the core of the base panel at failure
is within the range of the shear strength of the core material.
2. The joint is designed according to the findings of the FE
study, such that the weakest link is the shear strength of the
core of the base panel.
3. Severe shear deformation of the core just before failure, at
locations of the subsequent shear fractures, is illustrated by
deformation of the painted grid as shown in Fig. 11a.
4. The small drop in load before final failure also indicates
weakening and loss of stiffness of the base panel; the type of
fracture through the T-joint is not expected to cause any
load drop before failure.
The ultimate tensile strength of the DK-CND1 T-joint
itself has not been measured, because it is believed that the
base panel failed in shear before the ultimate tensile strength
was reached. Or in other words, the DK-CND1 T-joint is
sufficiently strong in tensile loading for the actual sandwich
panels, but it is not known how close the shear failure load is
to the tensile load capacity. One could imagine that a test
sample with a base panel of higher shear strength (Divinycell
H200 core) could be used to measure the ‘true’ tensile
strength of the joint, but this is not the case. A FE analysis
shows that the stress distribution in the T-joint (core triangles
and filler) is not the same as with the original base panel core
(Divinycell H100). For this reason a test with a strong
base panel core would not give direct information about the
T-joint strength. In fact, an unrealistic high tensile strength
for the joint would be measured.
7. Weight reduction
The weight efficiency of a T-joint can be expressed in
terms of weight/width alone or by weight/width relative to
strength [5] or maximum deflection [5]. Here the weight/
width alone is compared for the BD and DK-CND1
T-joints. The area weight of the sandwich panels for the
BD T-joint and the DK-CND1 T-joint is considered to be
the same. Both designs have 4 mm thick skin laminates,
and the 38 mm thick balsa core (150 kg/m3) plus resin for
priming in the BD has very closely the same area weight as
the 60 mm thick PVC foam core (100 kg/m3) in the
DK-CND1. Therefore, the weight reduction can be
calculated by looking at the materials for the T-joints
themselves.
The BD T-joint weight/width is 5.0 kg/m compiled of
0.9 kg/m for the filler and 4.1 kg/m for the two overlaminates.
The DK-CND1 T-joint weight/width is 2.1 kg/m compiled of
1.5 kg/m for the filler, 1.0 kg/m for the two fillets and minus
0.4 kg/m for the two 458-angle cut-offs of the T-panel. This
gives a weight reduction of about 60% for T-joint itself. The
absolute weight reduction of a structure is proportional to the
width of joints, but the relative weight reduction depends on
the ratio between the width of joints (length of joints in the
structure) and the area of sandwich panels, and it will be
much smaller, since the weight of the panels (approximately
20 kg/m2) is dominating.
8. Conclusions
† Geometry and materials for a lightweight sandwich T-
joint have been optimised for tensile loading by a new FE
strategy.
† The lightweight T-joint is designed for sandwich panels
with 60 mm thick PVC foam core and 4 mm thick glass
fibre/vinyl ester skin laminates. The panels are joined by
use of filler and two triangular PVC foam fillets (core
triangles).
† The commercial FE program ANSYS 5.6 was used to
make a 2D model of half of the T-joint assuming plane
strain. The materials were assumed to be linear elastic and
isotropic - except for the sandwich skins (and wood
inserts) that were assumed to be linear elastic and
orthotropic.
 H. Toftegaard, A. Lystrup / Composites: Part A 36 (2005) 1055–1065
† Ten different geometry parameters have been varied
together with the type of material used for the sandwich
cores and for the core triangles.
† The different joint configurations have been compared on
the basis of relative stresses in the different parts of the
joint. The relative stresses are defined as stress divided by
the relevant strength (sx/X, sy/Y and sxy/S) in the direction
x, along the base panel (panel A), in the direction y, along
the T-panel (panel B) and in shear.
† A load of 46 kN was used in all simulations leading to
shear failure in the panel A core (Divinycell H100) with a
maximum sxy/S between 1.02 and 1.09 depending on
configuration. (The load capacity of a reference Base
Design T-join is 36 kN. The Base Design T-joint consists
of 38 mm thick balsa core sandwich panels joined by filler
forming a smooth transition (radius 35 mm) from the T-
panel to the base panel, and overlaminated with laminates
of the same thickness as the skin laminates).
† The geometry and materials of the T-joint were evaluated
and selected such that the failure to occur first would be
shear failure in the core of the base panel, ensuring that the
load capacity of the selected lightweight T-joint (named
DK-CND1) would exceed the load capacity of the
reference Base Design T-joint.
† The simulations show that the most important geometry
parameter is the angle at the base of the core triangles.
A low angle down to 408 will give lower maximum
values (peaks) of relative stress in the y-direction and
in shear, but will also make the joint extend more in
the x-direction. An angle of 458 was chosen to give
low sy/Y and sxy/S peaks and reasonable joint
dimensions.
† The selected DK-CND1 sandwich T-joint has been tested
in static tension in a special designed fixture.
† The DK-CND1 T-joint fails in shear in the core of the base
panel at a load of 42 kN.
† Both the failure load and the failure mode match very well
with the predictions from the FE parameter study.
† The average failure load per width (in the z direction) of
the DK-CND1 T-joint is 169 kN/m, which is 20% higher
than the 141 kN/m for the reference Base Design T-joint.
† Failure is initiated by shear failure in the base sandwich
panel.
† The release of energy from the shear failure of the base
panel causes the T-joint itself to fail as well.
† The average shear failure load per width at the base panel
is 84 kN/m.
† The shear failure load corresponds to a shear strength of
the PVC foam core of 1.34 MPa.
1065
† The DK-CND1 T-joint is sufficiently strong in tensile
loading for the actual sandwich panels, but it is not known
how close the shear failure load is to the tensile load
capacity of the T-joint itself.
† The load/deflection curve is almost linear until a load of
20 kN, corresponding to a load per width of 80 kN/m.
† The DK-CND1 lightweight T-joint weighs only about
40% of the reference Base Design T-joint.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the EUCLID financial support
for the development work and approval of this publication
given by the Ministry of Defences of Denmark, Norway,
United Kingdom, The Netherlands, France and Italy.
Danyard Aalborg is acknowledged for proposing the
principle of the developed T-joint and for manufacturing
the test specimens. All the partners of the international
industrial consortium [1] are acknowledged for the technical
discussions and collaboration in defining the specification for
the test procedure of the T-joint.
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