New Paper Published on Manufacturing-Induced Frequency Variability in Sandwich Panels
Our new research article has been published in the Journal of Sandwich Structures & Materials:
The study, titled “Adhesive mass as the dominant source of natural frequency variability in production-batch aluminium honeycomb sandwich panels,” investigates the sources of natural frequency variability observed across nominally identical aluminium honeycomb sandwich panels from a single production batch, using field-compatible measurement methods.
Thirty-five commercial panels were examined with three complementary techniques. Portable acoustic testing achieved a correlation of r = 0.984 against laboratory experimental modal analysis (mean percentage error 1.1%; RMSE < 0.5 Hz); the weight-balance methodology yielded a signal-to-noise ratio of 8.9; and automated edge imaging quantified face sheet thickness with a coefficient of variation of 2.7%. Combining the scale and imaging measurements predicted 84% of the first-mode frequency variance (R²LOO = 0.839). Total panel weight emerged as the single most reliable frequency predictor (r = −0.855; p < 0.001), and adhesive quantity — rather than face sheet thickness or core geometry — was identified as the dominant source of variability.
These findings provide a low-cost, directly applicable screening framework for manufacturing quality control and structural dynamic prediction of sandwich panels, which are widely used in industries ranging from aerospace to rail transport.
The full article is available at https://doi.org/10.1177/10996362261475409.
