In this paper, the edgewise and flatwise compressive behaviour of an innovative sandwich panel, mainly developed for quick assembly of post-disaster housing as well as load bearing panels for pre-fabricated modular construction and semi-permanent buildings, is investigated experimentally and by finite element modelling. The panel is composed of two 3-D high-density polyethylene (HDPE) sheets as the skins, filled with high-density Polyurethane (PU) foam as the core. HDPE sheets manufactured with a studded surface considerably enhance the stress distribution and buckling performance of the sandwich panel. Material characterisation tests and flatwise compression and edgewise compression experiments were performed in accordance with ASTM standards to evaluate the compressive strength and the load-carrying behaviour of the sandwich panels. A finite element analysis and validation were also conducted to model the compressive behaviour of sandwich structures. Results demonstrate that the developed sandwich panel exhibits very good compressive performance.

In this paper, an innovative and efficient sandwich panel is proposed for the structural walls for quickly assembled post-disaster housing, as well as load bearing panels for pre-fabricated modular construction and semi-permanent buildings. This study focuses on the flexural and shear behavior of the innovative sandwich panels, which is composed of two 3-D high density polyethylene (HDPE) skins, and high-density Polyurethane (PU) foam core. An experimental study was carried out to validate the effectiveness of this panel for increasing the ultimate bending strength. A series of experimental tests were performed on medium-scale specimens to characterize their core shear behavior. Then, some supplementary tests were run to determine the panels’ flexural and shear stiffness. The numerical and experimental investigations show that the 3-D-HDPE sheets, manufactured with a studded surface; considerably enhance the pull-out and delamination strength. Good agreement has been observed between the numerical and experimental tests.