ABSTRACT
There is one innovation introduced in this study which is the consideration of cork as a possible material for the core of the sandwich, which has not been considered in the MOSAIC project, and is not one of the common materials used. It must be recognised that it is not the first time this material is used as the application of cork in high performance sailing craft sandwich structures was studied by Dumont & Blake (2012). Corecell M80 and Corecork NL20 were used to manufacture fiberglass epoxy sandwich panels. The panels were compared in a 3-point bending test and in a drop slamming test. In the bending tests, the panels with cork core are almost equivalent to the PVC ones. The dynamic tests showed a lower rigidity of the cork panels, hence the higher defections of the panels. Also due to the higher weight of the panels, it was concluded that these panels are not suitable for high performance applications.
