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On the tensile and compressive behavior of a sandwich panel made of flax fiber and agglomerated cork

Sandwich panels are used in buildings because of their light weight, thermal insulation, sound absorption, and better mechanical properties. Material scientists have been trying their best to replace synthetic materials as these are non-biodegradable. Stringent environmental policies, need for eco-friendly products, and problems in end-of-life disposal have made natural materials in sandwich panels the need of the hour. This research work attempts to replace the synthetic sandwich panels with natural sandwich panels without sacrificing the performance. The natural sandwich panels used in this work had agglomerated cork as the core and flax fiber as skin reinforcement. A vacuum-bagging technique was used to manufacture these panels with three core densities and three skin reinforcements. The performance of these panels was confirmed by conducting flatwise tensile, flatwise compressive, and edgewise compressive tests as per the American Society for Testing and Materials standards and the results are discussed in this article. The specific flatwise tensile strength of natural sandwich panels was 14–21% higher and the specific flatwise compressive strength was 2–10% higher than the synthetic sandwich panels. The edgewise compressive strength was found to be 32–34% lower than synthetic sandwich panels. The results suggest that natural sandwich panel could be a better alternative material for building applications.