Abstract
Sandwich beams are widely utilized in numerous industries due to their substantial flexural strength-to-weight ratio and ability to absorb significant energy. This paper examines the deformation and failure of aluminum foam core sandwich beams subjected to quasi-static and dynamic bending loads. The sandwich beams are constructed with an exterior made of aluminum skin layers and an internal aluminum foam core, further strengthened by adding E-glass fiber laminates. The deformation behavior of foam core sandwich beams reinforced with E-glass fiber laminates has been experimentally compared to that of sandwich beams without E-glass fiber reinforcement. A uniaxial compression test determines the mechanical properties of aluminum foam used as a core. Flexural tests are performed on foam core sandwich specimens with three-point bending. Load-displacement behavior, failure modes, and energy absorption of two types of foam core sandwich beams are investigated, and the effect of reinforcing sandwich beams with glass fiber laminates is studied. Experiments show that adding glass fiber laminates significantly enhances the load-carrying capability of the foam core sandwich beams under both quasi-static and dynamic conditions. However, the sandwich beams reinforced with glass fibers exhibit earlier collapse than those without glass fiber. Glass fiber-reinforced foam core sandwich beams exhibit a substantial increase in energy absorption per unit mass compared to identical foam core sandwich beams without glass fiber reinforcement.

Key words
foam core sandwich beam, aluminum foam, glass fiber, three-point bending, flexural properties, energy absorption capacity

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