3M Structural Honeycomb Core Materials

At 3M Corporation we have continuously challenged the traditional thought in core materials, and succeeded, judging by the number of material industry awards bestowed upon our core products incorporating our patented technology.

It is possible to obtain high core strength, low material weight, cost-effective core materials; it is also possible to obtain simultaneously high material impact resistance, virtually zero water absorption, high dimensional thermal material stability, sound and thermal insulation...

Not surprisingly the competition never wanted you to know about our core materials. It gives us the greatest pleasure to present 3M Structural honeycomb core materials, and other associated products and services offered by 3M Corporation.

Sandwich Construction

Sandwich panels mimic the characteristics of an I-beam, using flanges to support tensile and compression loads, with a shear web joining the flanges. Composite skins constitute the flange portions of the I-beam. Instead of using narrow webs, as is done on the centerline of an I-beam, low-density core materials are used throughout the space between two material skins. The preceding schematic demonstrates the effectiveness of a honeycomb core panel (Al) compared to a solid aluminum material sheet in 1/4-inch thickness. By using a core material to double the thickness, the flexural stiffness is increased seven (7) times at almost the same materials weight! The mechanical efficiency of this cored sandwich material can be dramatically increased by increasing "Core Thickness".