Over the past 15 years, the European shipbuilding industry, in cooperation with various universities and research institutes, took an interest in the sandwich panel design and made tremendous advances in understanding the behavioral characteristics and advantages of laser-welded steel sandwich panels. Early panel studies focused on prototypes for ship decks but strong interest soon surfaced for a much wider range of applications, particularly in the transportation and commercial construction industries. A multi-industry consortium studied this technology. Their work revealed the following advantages of sandwich panel structures:

Up to 50 percent weight reduction compared to conventional steel construction methods

• 90 percent weight reduction compared to concrete construction.
• 2/3 reduction in structural space requirements.
• Significantly improved fire resistance with appropriate core filler materials.
• And, improved energy absorption and damage tolerance.

Several European manufacturers have adopted the use of steel sandwich panels to create lightweight decks and stairs in cruise ships, lightweight balconies, and even flooring for a multi-level sports arena.

Construction Applications

Due to their stiffness, steel sandwich panels can span longer distances than normal steel panels. The combination of decreased weight and increased span significantly reduces construction cost.

Consider, for example, a multi-story building made with sandwich panels as floor decking. With the floors now a fraction of the weight of traditional flooring, the vertical I-beams also can be lighter weight and the column footings and foundations can be smaller, adding to savings.

The floors have less depth, so when compared with a traditional building of a certain height, the sandwich panel building can hold more floors, producing more rentable space. The result is a building that is less expensive to build yet offers more income-producing potential.

Steel sandwich panels also are being considered in the manufacture of housing. The open areas in the central core of the panels are ideal for running cables and ventilation systems and can be filled with insulation. A residential or commercial structure built from sandwich panels would be fire resistant, wind resistant and termite-proof with improved heating and cooling properties. And, when the time comes to replace the structure, the building material can be recycled.

The result is a home or office that is safer, more economical and more eco-friendly than any current manufacturing style.

The strength-to-weight ratio makes sandwich panels an appealing option in bridge construction as well.

Steel sandwich panels have the potential to be highly competitive, in cost and weight, with conventional bridge deck systems currently on the market. This is currently being explored by the by U.S. bridge builders.

Analysis findings have predicted that a 7.25-in. deep sandwich panel with a self-weight of 48 lbs. per sq. ft. can support full traffic loads over a rather long 15-ft. panel span. The reduced weight and construction cost of such a panel deck allows bridge owners to begin considering the use of more expensive stainless steel materials to produce a low-maintenance bridge deck system with a very long service life.