Principles of the design of highly porous layered composites working in the bending mode

A comparative analysis is made of the specific mechanical characteristics o f a sandwich-type laminated porous composite under bending. The external la yers of the composite are compact while the internal layer consists of a hi ghly porous material made by using a pore-forming agent. The specific stiff ness, strength, and yield load as a function of the volume fraction of pore s Theta and the porous/compact-layer thickness ratio ii are considered The stiffness, strength, and yield load are shown to be affected by variations of Theta and lambda when the weight of the composite is constant.