Design of X-joints in Sandwich Structures for Naval Vessels

In many naval ships of fibre composite sandwich construction, an X-joint exists where the end bulkhead of the superstructure is attached to the deck, with an internal bulkhead placed in the same vertical plane below the deck. This joint is subjected to alternating tensile and compressive loading in the vertical direction for respectively hogging and sagging bending deformation of the hull girder. When the core material is polymer foam, such joints are often strengthened by the insertion of a higher density core material in the deck panel in the immediate region of the joint. The paper aims to improve the basis for the design of such X-joints, focusing on the prevention of crushing of the core under compressive load while ensuring adequate damage tolerance for the case of tensile load. Extensive material tests are reported, strain distributions are investigated by both laboratory tests and numerical modelling, and design guidance for core inserts is presented.