Sandwich Structures 7: Advancing with Sandwich Structures and Materials

Over the last few years the science and technology of sandwich structures and materials has gained an impressive momentum, and the use of sandwich structures and materials in a variety of products covering the range from sporting goods to satellites is on the increase.Sandwich structures represent a special form of a laminated composite material or structural elements, where a relatively thick, lightweight and compliant core material separates thin stiff and strong face sheets. The faces are usually made of laminated polymeric based composite materials, and typically, the core can be a honeycomb type material, a polymeric foam or balsa wood. The faces and the core are joined by adhesive bonding, which ensures the load transfer between the sandwich constituent parts. The result is a special laminate with very high bending stiffness and strength to weight ratios. Sandwich structures are being used successfully for a variety of applications such as spacecraft, aircraft, train and car structures, wind turbine blades, boat/ship superstructures, boat/ship hulls and many others. The overall objective of the 7th International Conference on Sandwich Structures (ICSS-7) is to provide a forum for the presentation and discussion of the latest research and technology on all aspects of sandwich structures and materials, spanning the entire spectrum of research to applications in all the fields listed above. Previous conferences in this series were held at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden, in 1989; the University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, in 1992; Southampton University, Southampton, U.K., in 1995; the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden, in 1998; the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland, in 2001; and in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, in 2003.