Laminate design, optimization, and testing of an innovative carbon fiber‐reinforced composite sandwich panel for high‐speed train

Abstract An innovative type of carbon fiber‐reinforced composite corrugated rib sandwich panel floor structure was designed and produced for a high‐speed train equipment compartment, complying with the applicable railway car body structural requirements and railway fire protection standards. Using the finite element analysis (FEA) method there was conducted a four‐step laminate design optimization for adjusting the mechanical properties of both the skin and corrugated ribs parts. A prototype was manufactured by an autoclave process and successfully submitted to static and fatigue mechanical testing for evaluation of the strength and stiffness of this structure as well as for correlation with the FEA model. It was finally concluded that requirements were met for this lightweight design and the weight reduction was approximately of 35.7% in comparison to the conventional metal structure. The research shown in this article does not only provide an effective carbon fiber composite equipment design scheme for the floor panel for high‐speed trains, but also entails a methodical design process for other applications of carbon fiber composite structural parts.