SANDWICH PANEL COMPOSED OF REUSED ALUMINIUM RINGS
Recycling waste and creating materials that can be reused is a crucial aspect of sustainability in the circular economy. This study specifically focuses on the reuse of aluminium cans as a circular honeycomb core material in sandwich structures. By utilizing this approach, significant amounts of energy and emissions associated with the refining and manufacturing processes can be saved, especially when the material meets the geometry requirements for product design. The sandwich panels developed in this study consist of galvanised steel skins, reused aluminium rings, and a castor oil-based adhesive. The aluminium rings are arranged side by side to form an orthogonal core architecture. To evaluate their mechanical properties, a three-point bending test is conducted following the RJS Method and the ASTM standards C393 and D7250. The results depict that the sandwich panels can achieve a maximum load of up to 470 N. When subjected to pure bending, the panels demonstrate mean flexural stiffness and modulus of 28×108 N.mm2 and 35 GPa, respectively. The findings of this study highlight the promising potential of reusing aluminium cans as a circular honeycomb core material
in sandwich structures. This technology shows promise in scalability and its ability to provide secondary structural green solutions in various applications, including building and transport systems.