SAN foam core

Closed-cell polyvinyl chloride foam supplied in sheet form as a structural sandwich core. Crosslinked grades offer higher stiffness and temperature resistance, while linear grades are tougher and more ductile; both are widely used in boat hulls and decks, wind turbine blades and vehicle panels.

Closed-cell thermoplastic polyester foam used as a structural sandwich core. It is thermoformable, recyclable and often manufactured with recycled content, and its fatigue and processing performance has made it a common choice in wind turbine blades and transport structures.

The shear loading carried by the core of a sandwich panel as it bends, transferring load between the two face sheets. Core shear strength and shear modulus are primary selection properties for core materials, and core shear failure is a common design-limiting mode in sandwich structures.

The lightweight central layer of a sandwich construction, bonded between two thin, stiff face sheets to raise a panel's bending stiffness with minimal added weight. Common structural cores include polymer foams, honeycombs, end-grain balsa and syntactic materials, each specified by density, thickness and shear properties.