Sea-water effects on foam-cored composite sandwich lay-ups

This article concerns the effects of sea-water on foam cored composite sandwich structures under long-term exposure. Special attention is focused on sea-water induced damage in foam materials, weight gains and expansional strains, as well as on possible degradation in the properties of foam materials due to such extended exposure. In addition, sea-water effects on the fracture behavior of foam materials and on face/core interfacial debonding fracture are investigated experimentally and interpreted by means of computational fracture mechanics.