Multi-Material Selection: Material Selection for Sandwich Beams

In order to fulfill increasingly stringent design criteria, designers may need to consider more advanced engineering materials. One way to improve the performance of materials is to combine different monolithic materials in such a way as to capture the best qualities of both. Such combined, heterogeneous materials are known as multi-materials or hybrid materials. Fiber-reinforced materials and sandwich structures are examples. Selection methodologies and tools for selecting monolithic materials are well established and widely used, but less is known about the design and selection of multi-materials. Here we develop a systematic selection methodology and tool to identify promising solutions, focusing on material selection for foam-core sandwich beams. Two approaches are developed in this study: a real route and a virtual route, pursuing three design objectives: to minimize mass, to minimize cost and to minimize heat transfer. The results of both approaches are compared and discussed. A selection example is also presented to illustrate the use of this tool.